Kansas City Inches Towards a New Stadium

By: Laurie | December 15th, 2007

Super Tax Increment Financing.

For some reason that makes me think of Dean Wormer’s “Double Secret Probation” in Animal House. But super tax increment financing may just be the key to Kansas City getting a brand new, soccer specific stadium, expected to be completed in time for the 2010 season. (Sounds a bit optimistic to me, but who am I to judge?) The City Council signed off this week.

In a stunning turn of events, KC Mayor Mark Funkhouser dropped his objections to the project’s use of a special tax incentive called super tax increment financing, and fully backed the development. …

The developer, Lane4 Property Group, wants to build an 18,500-seat soccer stadium for the Wizards, a 12-field tournament soccer complex, a 250-room hotel, up to 1.1 million square feet of retail, and up to 1.7 million square feet of office space.

“We are convinced this will turn our area around,” said Councilman John Sharp, whose district includes the closed Bannister Mall.

Kansas City has long made news for having…oh, how can I say this tactfully… A lackluster fan base. They were bottom in league attendance figures this year with an abysmal 11,586 average attendance. (Tops? Beckham’s LA Galaxy, of course, with 24,252. Their stadium, the Home Depot Center, seats approximately 27,000.) The Wizards’ figures weren’t helped at all by the fact that up till this year they’ve played in Arrowhead Stadium, home of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, where Ambience = -30

(That figure is not totally random. That was the wind chill factor in Arrowhead one winter when I attended a Chiefs-Broncos game. I am not exaggerating.)

And if that’s not bad enough, the Wizards recently announced that they wouldn’t be going back to Arrowhead. Instead they’d be playing in CommunityAmerica Ballpark.

Yes, CommunityAmerica Ballpark! You know! Home of the baseball team the Kansas City T-Bones.

In short, things had been heading downhill for soccer in KC. Until this decision, which is definitely reason for optimism.

The Bannister location is a prime spot for the Wizards in visibility and viability. Three major highways intersect nearby and 1.1 million people live within a 20-minute drive, and the many people in support of the project amidst the overflow crowd confirmed their interest.

Let’s cross our fingers that the Wizards will now be able to land a high-profile player or two, maybe add a marketing department to their front office, and bring in some fans for that brand new stadium.