The Kansas City Chiefs\u2019 plans to build a new stadium and entertainment district in Wyandotte County<\/a> and a new team headquarters and training facility in Olathe<\/a> became official on Monday with an announcement from state, local and team leaders.<\/p>\n But questions about the Royals and that team\u2019s plans to move \u2014 possibly to Overland Park or even elsewhere in Kansas \u2014 remain unanswered as a key deadline looms.<\/p>\n In a written statement shared with the Post, Royals Chairman and CEO John Sherman congratulated the Chiefs for the move, but offered no information about his own team\u2019s plans at this juncture.<\/p>\n \u201cOn behalf of the Kansas City Royals, I want to wish the Hunt family and the entire Chiefs organization all the best on this important day,\u201d Sherman said in the statement. \u201cThough a few more miles may separate us in the future, let\u2019s continue our work as we build a world-class championship sports legacy for the Kansas City region.\u201d<\/p>\n In a move that has proven to reinflame old economic border war tensions, Kansas has allowed a special incentive package to entice one or both professional sports teams to the state.\u00a0That deal, enshrined in a state law passed during a special legislative session last year, expires in summer 2026.<\/p>\n The special offering would allow STAR bonds to cover up to 70% of the cost of constructing a new professional sports stadium. (STAR bond financing is usually capped at 50% of a project\u2019s costs.) The debt from those bonds and the interest they\u2019d accrue are meant to be repaid over time with sales taxes raised from within the project\u2019s established boundaries.<\/p>\n On Monday, the Legislative Coordinating Council \u2014 a group of leaders from both chambers of the Kansas Legislature \u2014 unanimously voted to establish a special STAR bond district, setting in motion a multiyear process to build a new stadium.<\/p>\n So far, the Chiefs are the only professional sports team in the Kansas City metro that has submitted a proposal to receive those special stadium incentives.<\/p>\n What happens at this point for the Royals is really in the hands of the baseball team\u2019s ownership and the Legislative Coordinating Council, since that body has indicated it will not consider stadium incentive proposals submitted after Dec. 31, 2025, a fast-approaching deadline.<\/p>\n Last week, Senate President Ty Masterson, currently the chair of the Legislative Coordinating Council, said the Royals were \u201cfully committed to Kansas,\u201d but added that the team\u2019s \u201clocation proposal continues to evolve\u201d and that \u201cit will not be finalized or considered this year or during the upcoming legislative session.\u201d<\/p>\n If the Royals decide to relocate to Kansas after that deadline \u2014 either to Overland Park or another community on this side of the metro \u2014 then the team may have to do so without the special incentive package. That said, they could still be eligible for standard STAR bonds or other incentives.<\/p>\n In the past year or so, the Aspiria site has been identified as one of at least three possible locations for the team\u2019s future ballpark<\/a> as it plans to vacate Kauffman Stadium when its lease runs out in early 2031.<\/p>\n Aspiria, located at 119th Street and Nall Avenue, is the former world headquarters of the Sprint Corporation, and the telecommunications giant had hopes of developing the campus as a dedicated office park<\/a>.<\/p>\n Eventually, the 200-acre campus was sold off to a Wichita-based developer with a mixed-use vision for the site, though that\u2019s been slow to materialize and has evolved.<\/p>\n This past spring, an affiliate of the Royals acquired the mortgage on the wider Aspiria campus<\/a>, seeming to confirm what until that point had largely been speculation about the team\u2019s consideration of the site. (Occidental Management, the developer, still maintains ownership of Aspiria through an affiliated LLC as of Monday morning, according to county land records.)<\/p>\n But pushback from neighbors has grown more intense in the past several weeks<\/a>. In a recent informal poll of readers, the Post found that roughly 60% of the more than 5,000 respondents did not want to see a new Royals stadium near 119th Street and Nall<\/a>.<\/p>\n Additionally, T-Mobile said it would relocate its 3,500 employees currently housed at the Aspiria campus<\/a> if a stadium were to be built at the site, and an association representing Jewish community centers across the country warned that a baseball stadium could have a \u201cdevastating\u201d impact on The J<\/a>.<\/p>\n City officials in Overland Park have been mostly mum on the issue aside from offering qualified support for a potential stadium. Until recently, the issue has mostly stayed out of public meetings at city hall, as well.<\/p>\n Last week, Mayor Curt Skoog said that so far, no formal applications for development of a stadium or associated incentives have been submitted to the city. However, he was clear that any that might be submitted would be subject to the same review process as any other development application.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city of Overland Park has a robust development review process. All development proposals must go through that process. It will evaluate issues like traffic, parking, pedestrian, access and noise. The community will have opportunities to share their thoughts and concerns,\u201d Skoog said, echoing previous written statements. \u201cAny stadium development must be good for Overland Park, Johnson County and the state of Kansas. I hope we will learn more from the state of Kansas and the team in the near future.\u201d<\/p>\n All that said, the exact approval process will depend largely on the development plan and the type of application.<\/p>\n The Aspiria campus is already zoned for mixed-use development, which means a stadium would likely not require a rezoning, according to the Unified Development Ordinance.<\/p>\n However, a revised preliminary development plan approval would likely still require consideration from the Overland Park Planning Commission and the Overland Park City Council, which could come with a public hearing.<\/p>\n Keep reading:<\/strong> Leawood City Council joins growing chorus of those opposed to Royals stadium in neighboring Overland Park<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\nWhat are these special stadium incentives?<\/h3>\n
Aspiria in Overland Park floated as a potential Royals home<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>What are city leaders saying?<\/h3>\n
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