Downtown Baseball Stadium

[Chris Stritzel]

Build it. Just remove the cheesy bridge over the new park. Let people walk through the park. Pleasantly surprised with the plans and I think most people will come to like it over time. It’s a very touchy subject right now. Mahomes endorsed the project on Twitter as has Perez and Witt Jr

[Rusty Irish]

That press conference was terrible and full of non-answers. They haven't partnered with anybody, seemingly haven't even spoke with most property owners. Doesn't seem they have even worked with the city yet on street design. I bet they don't even know city ordinance doesn't allow new pedestrian bridges. Had no answer for who will pay for the park cap extension. Seemingly have no idea how people are going to get to the game from eastern jackson co if they think 1/3rd of the metro is going to get off at 23rd street lol.

Only solid answer they gave was the seating capacity would be in the 34k to 34.5k range.

I personally hope this happens as it takes an asset out of the suburbs and into the core and the alternatives are potentially much worse, however I don't think the no vote were swayed to yes at all today for the reasons you've said.

[KCDowntown]

Just noticed that Grand is two lanes in the rendering, with the sidewalks widened on the stadium side. I think one of the slides at the presentation talked about enhancements to 18th street and Grand, but it was hard to tell.

KCDowntown

[WoodDraw]

If you think they're actually going to build that, I'll sell you the bridge in the renderings.

Every new kc thing comes out with big fountains and then they take them away. We have floating faces on old screens around sprint center still. And an empty parking lot next to it.

[GRID]

Okay my thoughts after a hour so so to digest it.

I generally like it, but it has flaws.

Oak has to remain open. Really surprised they would close that. It looks like they are trying to do the same thing there as Camden Yards and Eutaw Street? IDK, just not sure about keeping a key street closed like that.

The scoreboard still needs more Royals identity, like a crown or something so it's not just a board of ads like every other park.

Same with the fountains. What are they doing there? It looks like waterfall fountains ,but I don't think they are actually fountains. They threw a fountain on the 670 deck park, but that's vaporware IMO.

It's hard to tell, but I thought there might be more street activation where dead parts of the stadium meet the sidewalk.

It really feels like the extension of the 670 park is vaporware till proven otherwise. Especially with that huge fountain. When asked about it, the Royals said the stadium is a "catalyst" for building that. Meaning it has zero funding currently. That means that even if it does happen, it could be a decade or more after the stadium opens based on how fast the rest of the cap has progressed.

Same with the bridge. I like the pedestrian bridge, but building that along with redoing the T-mobile plaza? is that funded as part of the stadium? If not, it will probably be cut.

The development east of Oak seems like vaporware. Sherman acted like he had no development partners lined up for any of that. So it's just rendering filler at this point. It needs to go up at the same time as the stadium or it will likely never happen especially at that scale. And if they don't happen, your primary view is the At&t long lines building.

I'm surprised there is not at least one large pubic garage going up as part of the stadium like east of the Tmobile. As much parking as there is downtown, the stadium will still need decent sized garage nearby.

Things I really like.

It's closer to the streetcar.

It's walkable to nearly ever part of downtown KC.

It's right on Grand and east of Grand which needs help.

It removes a gigantic white elephant that is quickly becoming an eyesore and detriment to development. (KC Star)

It will not only enhance the crossroads district restaurants and nightlife, but should help sustain the long term future of the P&L district.

The general bowl design of the stadium looks nice.



Overall, I still really like it. I just think the Royals, the city, the county and the state have a LOT of work to do in order to make these renderings realistic. I'm still scared they just end up with a budget stadium with none of this extra stuff around it, but I'm excited to see if it can be done. I think a stadium has a better chance at this location than at EV where I'm much more sure the stadium would go up all by itself and stay that way for decades.

I'm just a little disappointed in the lack of funding and development details for all the surroundings, but maybe the it can all get done in a timely manner.

[WoodDraw]

It's all vapor. There's no money for any of it.

But let's ask the real question, do we get real flags to make grand grand again? lol

[WoodDraw]

Build it. Just remove the cheesy bridge over the new park. Let people walk through the park. Pleasantly surprised with the plans and I think most people will come to like it over time. It’s a very touchy subject right now. Mahomes endorsed the project on Twitter as has Perez and Witt Jr

This is what frustrates me. That park is a fiction. There's no money, no approval, no anything. They just put it into a rendering to make the stadium look nicer. There is no park.

Even the one the kinda decided to build still isn't approved.

This is what I was pointing to earlier when I said enjoy the pretty renderings.

This is all a fiction.

[DColeKC]

And grand is constantly closed for concerts, events, big 12, etc. Oak is extremely vital and I will not back down on this.

I get it, but Oak is gone. The plan for Grand between T-Mobile and Kansas City Live will have to be tweaked but pedestrian safety is more important than saving someone 3 minutes of travel time.

This attitude is going to make me fight the tax. I'd rather the royals move to Nashville than close oak.

I’m sorry but I’d rather inconvenience peoples travel time by a few minutes over seeing people hit by cars. That’s just my stance. I was pushing for oak to remain open as well but lost that battle. It’s certainly not enough of a reason for one to wish we lose a baseball team.

[DColeKC]

Build it. Just remove the cheesy bridge over the new park. Let people walk through the park. Pleasantly surprised with the plans and I think most people will come to like it over time. It’s a very touchy subject right now. Mahomes endorsed the project on Twitter as has Perez and Witt Jr

This is what frustrates me. That park is a fiction. There's no money, no approval, no anything. They just put it into a rendering to make the stadium look nicer. There is no park.

Even the one the kinda decided to build still isn't approved.

This is what I was pointing to earlier when I said enjoy the pretty renderings.

This is all a fiction.

Dude what is your problem. Would you saying the same thing if the renderings were east village? The only thing that’s 100% fiction here are your comments. The park is approved. It is happening. This will just make acquiring the last tranche of private funding easier. Adding two additional blocks isn’t even the hard part.

This is for sure not all 100% final in design and things will change but
My god the gate from you is unreal.

[WoodDraw]

For those that haven't gone through this before, enjoy. When they announce something with no funding, but fancy renderings, the first thing they do is start cutting.

I know everyone likes dcole for the optimism, but look through what I have said recently and see if any of it is wrong.

The reason I wanted EV was we'd have another developer other than Cordish. Look at these renderings, it's exactly what I said. It's all designed around protecting Cordish. None of this will actually get built.

[TheUrbanRoo]

tHeY’LL nEvEr bUiLd tHaT!

[dnweava]

I get it, but Oak is gone. The plan for Grand between T-Mobile and Kansas City Live will have to be tweaked but pedestrian safety is more important than saving someone 3 minutes of travel time.

This attitude is going to make me fight the tax. I'd rather the royals move to Nashville than close oak.

I’m sorry but I’d rather inconvenience peoples travel time by a few minutes over seeing people hit by cars. That’s just my stance. I was pushing for oak to remain open as well but lost that battle. It’s certainly not enough of a reason for one to wish we lose a baseball team.

We are not taking about a minor inconvenience. The area gridlocks up now during rush hour when grand is closed, it can take 20 minutes to go from oak to Broadway during the big 12 week. Throw in a daytime baseball game with oak gone and it's going to take people 1 hour to leave work from certain blocks...I don't think you realize just how bad this will be.

[KCDowntown]

New website:
https://kcroyalsstadium.kinsta.cloud/

KCDowntown

[brewcrew1000]

This attitude is going to make me fight the tax. I'd rather the royals move to Nashville than close oak.

I’m sorry but I’d rather inconvenience peoples travel time by a few minutes over seeing people hit by cars. That’s just my stance. I was pushing for oak to remain open as well but lost that battle. It’s certainly not enough of a reason for one to wish we lose a baseball team.

We are not taking about a minor inconvenience. The area gridlocks up now during rush hour when grand is closed, it can take 20 minutes to go from oak to Broadway during the big 12 week. Throw in a daytime baseball game with oak gone and it's going to take people 1 hour to leave work from certain blocks...I don't think you realize just how bad this will be.

How much of that is due to the crappy signal lights we have? I swear the signals here are the worst. The one on 17th and Broadway is another crappy one that needs.to be reconfigured

[DColeKC]

For those that haven't gone through this before, enjoy. When they announce something with no funding, but fancy renderings, the first thing they do is start cutting.

I know everyone likes dcole for the optimism, but look through what I have said recently and see if any of it is wrong.

The reason I wanted EV was we'd have another developer other than Cordish. Look at these renderings, it's exactly what I said. It's all designed around protecting Cordish. None of this will actually get built.

I’ve been downtown for well over 15 years. I came in right after the deal got done for PNL and dove in on the design phase. We didn’t cut anything major from the original plan but of course smaller items do get cut as part of the budget process. The roof over Kansas City live for example was supposed to be larger. That’s probably the biggest change that people can physically see. We also cut all the rooftop patios that were supposed to go on the Grand side roofs.

How would the royals building residential, hotel and office “protect” Cordish when they do the same thing?

And no funding, what in particular are you talking about? They have a billion dollars of private funding ready. The smaller version of the park has 90 million and there’s no way the royals didn’t have discussions with potential donors about extending the cap.

There about to be so many foot in mouth moments for the doubters over the next few years.

[WoodDraw]

Worth mentioning power and light is backed by the general fund. Anyway,

Take a look at the initial Sprint center renderings or airport.

The royals said their contribution would be buying the land. The tax, if approved, will give a couple hundred million.

And people think they're going to build this?? Where is the money?

[Major KC Fan]

I was originally an EV fan & still feel it’s going to need some serious attention to better tie downtown to Paseo West and the Northeast. Having said that I like the EC alignment with T Mobile and the core of downtown activity (KC Streetcar spine).

I know the Buck O’Neil bridge trusses (3) are being saved and looking for a new home. Could all three trusses, or at least some of them, be re-purposed as part of the pedestrian bridge from the T-Mobile center to the new K? I have no idea how they would fit in as I’m not an infrastructure designer, but they would really give an historical tribute to our many bridges and viaducts. And what are we going to do with them anyway? Kind of like the re-purposed railroad bridge at Union Station, or the Rock Island Bridge project in the West Bottoms.

[Chris Stritzel]

The negativity surrounding this has shown true colors about wanting change across a wide range of folks. Deals of this scale are extremely complex and have tons of factors associated with them that very few of us can even grasp. The decision did not come easily, nor should it have.

The Royals were screwed either way. On one hand, you had Columbus Park people pissed about the stadium in East Village, the affordable housing advocates pissed about what could happen to Paseo West, and the Feds pissed that an East Village stadium would reduce their security buffer for their properties and they'd have to give up the garage they use at 10th and Cherry. On the other hand, you have longtime "urban advocates" pissed that the Crossroads will lose a handful of buildings away from the center of activity, you have other downtown residents saying you'll lose things of great usage when I rarely see anyone patronize these businesses, and you have those who want a denser downtown complaining despite the fact that a large chunk of the site is car infrastructure.

This is a lose-lose station as far as the Royals are concerned. You can't win if you're the Royals.

I've taken the time to walk around this site at all times of day and night, good weather and bad, weekday and weekend, to get a feel for it over the past year. It's something I encourage everyone to do as well. See what's currently there and ask yourself if this is any better than what we'd get. It's an honest question that I have. I'll miss some of the buildings in the development zone, but they can be replicated elsewhere. The existing businesses over there should be offered new homes in the neighborhood as it's the right thing to do (although some I wouldn't provide that courtesy if I were in charge).

It's also clear that the future success of the Crossroads neighborhood will be determined by what's built in the eastern half. 1531 Holmes is the first "big" project to be proposed over there, and certainly not the last. The area is extremely underutilized. It'd an industrial zone with crummy sidewalks and usages that need to be cleared. We have a multi-generational opportunity to use this proposal as a spark to get the city to rewrite policy to encourage smarter development in this area so we're not left with the wasteland we currently have.

I agree with WoodDraw that these are simply pretty pictures. Plans will change between now and the groundbreaking. I encourage everyone to use the comment form on the Ballpark District website to submit your comments. My comments were...
- Shift the buildings on Oak back a bit to create a cut-through.
- Either remove the pedestrian bridge over the park or incorporate a potion of the Buck ONeil bridge.
- Feature lush landscaping around the stadium.

Cities are meant to evolve and change. There were decisions made a century ago that people were pissed at, yet now we look back on them as being unimaginable to live without or to imagine the city without. A project like this is our time's equivalent. Are people really going to stand in the way over something like this?

I understand that East Village will be left undeveloped, for now. VanTrust will likely spin the land off soon and we'll see it start to be developed. If I can play a role in that, I will. But for now, my work elsewhere calls me for full attention.

Lastly, a lot of people already had their minds made up over whether to support this ever since the whispers of the Crossroads site came into the picture. No amount of campaigning will change this fact. I'm set on voting yes because I want Downtown to evolve (as it should), I want the Chiefs to get necessary upgrades at Arrowhead, and I want the Royals to double-down and commit to Downtown for decades to come. I already pay the sales tax and so does every single other person who lives, works, and visits in Jackson County.

[WoodDraw]

Ftr, as of now I'm planning to vote yes on the tax.

I'm sorry if I'm sounding negative. Grid must be happy I'm taking over the abuse.

I agree with what Chris said. The only thing I'll add is fight now because you won't get a second chance.

[Chris Stritzel]

Post 2: Slides from the presentation showing potential enhancements to 18th Street, the parking situation, and some aerials.