Downtown Baseball Stadium

[DaveKCMO]

I know Dave will not like this comment either, but I will never understand the reasoning behind the location of that little bus transit center clear over on Charlotte unless they actually didn't want it anywhere near anything. Keep it as a smaller transit center, for buses going to the east side but downtown KC still needs a proper transit center in a proper location preferably connected to the streetcar line.

The original "Transit Emphasis Corridor" plan envisioned bookend transit centers along 11th/12th, with the preferred east location on Cherry. Obviously the city's larger East Village plan removed that option. The west bookend was originally planned for 12th/Broadway but will now occupy a portion of the reconstructed Barney Allis Plaza.

Short version: KCATA wanted better locations but the city and landowners said no.

All that said, 12th & Charlotte would be an awesome location if the ballpark were across the street.

[DColeKC]

I just went back and looked at the official renderings the Royals put out of East Village. We are all not even talking about the right placement of the stadium. According to those renderings, the stadium would be in between 9th and 11th streets.

Please tell me how that spot is better than East Crossroads.

Because it's an empty lot and doesn't tear down businesses. We all don't think in terms of "steps to pbr bar".

EV helps fill out our downtown loop and makes it more dense.

No, you’re not thinking of anything besides the fact that there’s a giant empty lot you want filled. However people who build things think about these things. Baseball fans who are looking for a true experience are thinking about these things. Did you know that people 35 and under are looking for “experiences” more than ever before. Simply attending the game isn’t what the target demographic wants. They want the pre-game and post-game experience. Those are the same people we are trying to draw downtown to become residents.

There shouldn’t be this push to fill in an empty space while sacrificing the best potential results. This is no difference then the people who want them to dump a billion into Kauffman and stay, despite it being a bad location and investment.

No one besides members of this forum know what the east village is. Hardly anyone even gets eyes on it. It’s a target for downtown development enthusiasts and that’s it. We have a downtown that’s been revitalized over the last 20 years and now some are wanting to build this stadium blocks away completely disjointed. Why did we do all this work to create a downtown that can support a baseball stadium just to plop it in a hole to satisfy the extreme minority?

I can care less about steps to (insert whatever bar you’re not a fan of, have never stepped inside and are not the target demo). I care about proximity to the existing billion dollar entertainment district we already have. Why? Because it’s a massive asset to the Royals and baseball fans. It will create game days that will be nearly unrivaled across the country.

[TheLastGentleman]

Busch to-scale, laid from Grand eastward

[GRID]

Do the same thing with one of the smaller parks like Twins stadium.

[TheUrbanRoo]

But if they do the EC site are they still planning on any towers? That’s the only loss from EV site is they had actual towers planned, and I’m not sure if EC will have that.

[beautyfromashes]

Owner of the Star press building on the news stating he doesn’t want to tear down the building, just use it as an “entertainment hub” for the stadium fully east of Oak. How is this site closer that EV?

[TheLastGentleman]

Do the same thing with one of the smaller parks like Twins stadium.

[TheUrbanRoo]

Busch to-scale, laid from Grand eastward

Is there any way to shift it to the East and preserve that sliver of building structure on Grand partially instead of the partial on Locust

[DColeKC]

Owner of the Star press building on the news stating he doesn’t want to tear down the building, just use it as an “entertainment hub” for the stadium fully east of Oak. How is this site closer that EV?

Because he thinks he can get more if he’s selling the building and not just the land. He made a bad investment and is trying to get every penny he can. Once again, he is not involved in the planning. He simply owns a 5 acre plot they intend to buy and level.

[DColeKC]

Busch to-scale, laid from Grand eastward

Is there any way to shift it to the East and preserve that sliver of building structure on Grand partially instead of the partial on Locust

Busch stadium is huge compared to the newest outdoor stadiums. 9th largest in the league and holds 45,000 people. 12,000 more than proposed new stadium.

Shifting to east works but you’ll lose Oak.

[TheUrbanRoo]

Busch to-scale, laid from Grand eastward

Is there any way to shift it to the East and preserve that sliver of building structure on Grand partially instead of the partial on Locust

Busch stadium is huge compared to the newest outdoor stadiums. 9th largest in the league and holds 45,000 people. 12,000 more than proposed new stadium.

Shifting to east works but you’ll lose Oak.

I could care less about losing a sliver of seldom used Oak

[Cratedigger]

I know Dave will not like this comment either, but I will never understand the reasoning behind the location of that little bus transit center clear over on Charlotte unless they actually didn't want it anywhere near anything. Keep it as a smaller transit center, for buses going to the east side but downtown KC still needs a proper transit center in a proper location preferably connected to the streetcar line.

The original "Transit Emphasis Corridor" plan envisioned bookend transit centers along 11th/12th, with the preferred east location on Cherry. Obviously the city's larger East Village plan removed that option. The west bookend was originally planned for 12th/Broadway but will now occupy a portion of the reconstructed Barney Allis Plaza.

Short version: KCATA wanted better locations but the city and landowners said no.

All that said, 12th & Charlotte would be an awesome location if the ballpark were across the street.

Not the right thread at all but was Union Station considered for the transit center?

[DColeKC]

Is there any way to shift it to the East and preserve that sliver of building structure on Grand partially instead of the partial on Locust

Busch stadium is huge compared to the newest outdoor stadiums. 9th largest in the league and holds 45,000 people. 12,000 more than proposed new stadium.

Shifting to east works but you’ll lose Oak.

I could care less about losing a sliver of seldom used Oak

I’m not worried about Oak but T-Mobile already sits on a superblock. It would be nice to keep the stadium within that same west to east superblock and avoid the closing of any additional north/south roads. Grand to Locust would keep things consistent in my view.

[DColeKC]

But if they do the EC site are they still planning on any towers? That’s the only loss from EV site is they had actual towers planned, and I’m not sure if EC will have that.

Yes. You’d just see much more consolidated and dense development. East Village would be more spread out and shorter buildings. East Crossroads would likely mean more verticality due to smaller overall footprint.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

Busch stadium is huge compared to the newest outdoor stadiums. 9th largest in the league and holds 45,000 people. 12,000 more than proposed new stadium.

Shifting to east works but you’ll lose Oak.

I could care less about losing a sliver of seldom used Oak

I’m not worried about Oak but T-Mobile already sits on a superblock. It would be nice to keep the stadium within that same west to east superblock and avoid the closing of any additional north/south roads. Grand to Locust would keep things consistent in my view.

This revisits the frequent Grand Closure, and whether or not cordish would revisit that, considering the garage in P&L would likely be a heavy use item during Royals games. Would they continue closing it? Because if so it definitely would defeat a lot of potentially viable usage of those assets

[DColeKC]

I could care less about losing a sliver of seldom used Oak

I’m not worried about Oak but T-Mobile already sits on a superblock. It would be nice to keep the stadium within that same west to east superblock and avoid the closing of any additional north/south roads. Grand to Locust would keep things consistent in my view.

This revisits the frequent Grand Closure, and whether or not cordish would revisit that, considering the garage in P&L would likely be a heavy use item during Royals games. Would they continue closing it? Because if so it definitely would defeat a lot of potentially viable usage of those assets

The city is still vetting and working on options to prevent the need for Grand to be closed so frequently. It’s always going to get closed on T-Mobile event days one hour before event doors. The parking garage fills on event days even with the closure but I understand your point.

No one seems to believe this but Cordish does not want to close it. However when left open they continue to experience dangerous and or disruptive behavior. Maybe this stadium would be the catalyst needed to finally fix the problem for good.

[KCPowercat]

I just went back and looked at the official renderings the Royals put out of East Village. We are all not even talking about the right placement of the stadium. According to those renderings, the stadium would be in between 9th and 11th streets.

Please tell me how that spot is better than East Crossroads.

Because it's an empty lot and doesn't tear down businesses. We all don't think in terms of "steps to pbr bar".

EV helps fill out our downtown loop and makes it more dense.

No, you’re not thinking of anything besides the fact that there’s a giant empty lot you want filled. However people who build things think about these things. Baseball fans who are looking for a true experience are thinking about these things. Did you know that people 35 and under are looking for “experiences” more than ever before. Simply attending the game isn’t what the target demographic wants. They want the pre-game and post-game experience. Those are the same people we are trying to draw downtown to become residents.

There shouldn’t be this push to fill in an empty space while sacrificing the best potential results. This is no difference then the people who want them to dump a billion into Kauffman and stay, despite it being a bad location and investment.

No one besides members of this forum know what the east village is. Hardly anyone even gets eyes on it. It’s a target for downtown development enthusiasts and that’s it. We have a downtown that’s been revitalized over the last 20 years and now some are wanting to build this stadium blocks away completely disjointed. Why did we do all this work to create a downtown that can support a baseball stadium just to plop it in a hole to satisfy the extreme minority?

I can care less about steps to (insert whatever bar you’re not a fan of, have never stepped inside and are not the target demo). I care about proximity to the existing billion dollar entertainment district we already have. Why? Because it’s a massive asset to the Royals and baseball fans. It will create game days that will be nearly unrivaled across the country.

I care deeply about making sure our assets synergize. It's why I think EV is better as we are still looking into pnl and also better using our other assets and not tearing down other assets. You seem to want to singly focus on one asset

I totally understand and also seek out experiences not busy the event itself. Everybody prefers that. Both sites can create that.

[KCPowercat]

Do the same thing with one of the smaller parks like Twins stadium.

This is actually the most encouraging post I've seen in this thread since this site was posted about.

It single handedly has moved my needle closer to accepting this site. Still have fears it can be done precise enough and existing businesses just on the perimeter getting wiped out by garages or other stadium amenities and still dislike wiping out the east side of grand.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

The biggest plus side I can see with EC is the possibility of the Prime nightclub being removed. That place has been an absolute nightmare for downtown livability, but especially for those along Grand. If that disappears with this plan then I might actually be supportive

[smh]

You could build this in a way that either preserved or created new retail opportunities along Grand, maybe even one or two with a view into the stadium a la Fenway.

But also, nothing the Royals have shown so far suggests they have assembled a team that can do any of this with the kind of precision that would be required on a delicate site like this so as to not blow up the neighborhood. Similarly, KCMO lacks the planning capacity (imho) to put the right policies in place to help ensure the surrounding area doesn't become parking lots or all gameday bars.