R<\/span>enderings only tell part of the story, said Don Hall Jr., describing a new ballpark district at Crown Center that not only is home to the Kansas City Royals, but feels like an inviting community asset even during the off-season.<\/p>\n Officials from the baseball club and Hallmark Cards joined civic and economic development leaders Wednesday to formally announce plans for the Royals to relocate from Truman Sports Complex to a site at Crown Center, near historic Union Station and Liberty Memorial.<\/p>\n Don Hall Jr., executive chairman of the board of directors for Hallmark Cards, and John Sherman, CEO and chairman of the Royals, provide greater context to new renderings by Populous of a new ballpark at Crown Center; photo by Austin Barnes, Startland News<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis is exactly where baseball stadiums belong: at the center of a community where everyone can access them,\u201d said Hall, executive chairman of the board of directors for Hallmark Cards.<\/p>\n RELATED: Royals\u2019 new plan adds Hallmark\u2019s crown to downtown ballpark as part of KC\u2019s largest public-private partnership<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Set to break ground in 2027, the first phase will see the Crown Center district transformed with baseball incorporated into as many facets of the neighborhood as possible, he said, noting a master plan \u2014\u00a0being developed alongside the Royals \u2014\u00a0will take advantage of existing infrastructure and topography to bring the $3 billion project to life.<\/p>\n Because of grading in the area, Hall said, the ballpark itself will be situated within the built environment in a way that allows ticketholders to enter from street level at the upper deck, sending them down toward the field. That design prevents the stadium from feeling like an imposing structure looming over the streets.<\/p>\n \u201cThose kind of say \u2018Don\u2019t come in unless it\u2019s game day.\u2019 Instead, baseball will feel like it\u2019s part of our everyday lives,\u201d he told a crowd gathered at The American, overlooking today\u2019s Crown Center.<\/p>\n The pitch from new teammates Hall and John Sherman, CEO and chairman of the Royals: a ballpark district that builds community 365 days a year, not just 81.<\/em><\/p>\n That starts with an approachable campus that people live and work alongside \u2014 not just journey to visit, the two shared. Hall mused about the potential for a pedestrian to walk past the ballpark along Gillham Road, looking down into the stadium on their daily stroll.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s more inviting than seeing green grass in the stadium in December and looking forward to the baseball season starting?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n RELATED: Royals are coming to Crown Center; Here\u2019s how taxpayers are supporting the project<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Don Hall Jr., executive chairman of the board of directors for Hallmark Cards, speaks during an announcement event for the Kansas City Royals planned ballpark district at Crown Center; photo by Austin Barnes, Startland News<\/p>\n<\/div>\n While details about the ballpark project were slim Wednesday \u2014 \u201cThere\u2019s no script for what we\u2019re sharing with you today. No playbook. No blueprint. No roadmap,\u201d Sherman told the crowd \u2014 Hall dropped one big announcement about Hallmark\u2019s longtime offices in the heart Crown Center.<\/p>\n The headquarters of Hallmark Cards at Crown Center in Kansas City; photo by Austin Barnes, Startland News<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cOur headquarters will be moving to make room for the new stadium,\u201d he said, acknowledging the weight of such a decision. \u201cOur buildings have been home to generations of Hallmarkers and some of our most memorable corporate moments since we located here in 1956. While these buildings have served us very well, we are very excited about moving to a newer building that will be even better suited for our work today and into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Hallmark\u2019s new headquarters are expected to remain within the Crown Center ballpark complex, though an exact location was not shared.<\/p>\n The Royals will move their offices to the stadium structure itself, Sherman said, which is set to be anchored where Hallmark\u2019s current headquarters now sit.<\/p>\n Washington Square Park to the north of Crown Center \u2014\u00a0previously thought to be the future stadium site \u2014\u00a0is envisioned as part of a future, expanded ballpark district, Sherman teased.<\/p>\n The fates of existing shops and sites like The American, Legoland Discovery Center, and Sealife aquarium were not immediately discussed. The Ice Terrace at Crown Center appeared visible in renderings released Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cTogether we will rethink, reimagine, redefine and redevelop Crown Center in an 85-acre-plus setting that will instantly become the largest sports-anchored downtown development of its kind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n John Sherman, CEO and chairman of the Kansas City Royals, chats with J.J. Picollo, executive vice president and general manager, in the Royals dugout on opening weekend at Truist Park in Atlanta, a stadium designed by Earl Santee, senior principal at Kansas City-based Populous, which is expected to lead design for Kansas City\u2019s new ballpark at Crown Center; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In explaining the vision for the district, Sherman referenced The Battery, a mixed-use development surrounding Truist Park in Atlanta that serves as an extension of the Atlanta Braves\u2019 baseball operation.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s considered the gold standard, and for good reason,\u201d Sherman said.<\/p>\n The 75-acre Battery campus reportedly generated more than $69 million in adjusted profit<\/a> for the club.<\/p>\n Truist Park notably is among the nearly two dozen ballparks designed or renovated at the hands of Earl Santee, senior principal at Kansas City-based Populous,<\/a> which has led design work for the Royals\u2019 new stadium since the early days of the club\u2019s relocation talks.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a bigger project, more land, in downtown, and in the heart of the city,\u201d Sherman said, turning back to the Crown Center development. \u201cWe\u2019re bringing a modern, state-of-the-art ballpark experience to our fans, closer to public transportation, like the streetcar, and where more people work and live, which will lower the barrier of accessibility for our fans.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Wednesday\u2019s announcement event didn\u2019t address naming rights for the stadium, Sherman reflected on honoring the past while embracing the future. The Royals\u2019 longtime home bears the name Kauffman Stadium, in honor of iconic Kansas City entrepreneur Ewing Marion Kauffman.<\/p>\n \u201cWe take his legacy and what he did with the Royals very, very seriously,\u201d Sherman said of Kauffman.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we acquired the Royals in 2019 \u2026\u00a0we knew that an early priority would be to stabilize our future in Kansas City, to fulfil Ewing Kauffman\u2019s promise that the Royals would be Kansas City\u2019s forever,\u201d added Sherman, who lead the ownership group that purchased Royals from then-owner David Glass for more than $1 billion.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter Charlie Finley moved the A\u2019s to Oakland after the 1967 season, Major League Baseball teamed up with Mr. Kauffman to bring baseball back to Kansas City \u2014 only missing one season. But that was just the beginning,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat he did to keep the team here was extraordinary and we all owe him a debt of gratitude for it,\u201d Sherman said.<\/p>\n Kauffman was one of many great role models for Kansas City, he noted.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ones who I\u2019ve gotten to know, they didn\u2019t start these businesses to make a lot of money,\u201d Sherman said. \u201cThey started their businesses to take care of their families and pay some bills. Their success exceeded their wildest dreams and then they all gave massively back to this community. There\u2019s something very special about Kansas City.\u201d<\/p>\n John Sherman, CEO and chairman of the Royals, shares an embrace with Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM), during an announcement event for the Royals new ballpark district at Crown Center; photo by Austin Barnes, Startland News<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Wednesday\u2019s unveiling at Crown Center was a long time coming, Sherman acknowledged.<\/p>\n An earlier plan to relocate the ballpark to the Crossroads was scuttled by Jackson County voters, with speculation swirling between sites on both sides of the state line for years as the Royals worked to find a solution that fit both the team and fans.<\/p>\n \u201cToday is a day that, by any definition, was worth the wait,\u201d Sherman said. \u201cIt\u2019s been said that patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen in a different order than what you had in mind. It\u2019d be really easy for me today to say \u2018You know, this is how we drew it up.\u2019 \u2026 But there\u2019s no straight line between Point A and Point B.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPatience has given us an outcome that we could never have imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n A key was finding the right collaborator, Sherman and Hall acknowledged.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a partnership between two treasured Kansas City institutions, Hallmark Cards and the Kansas City Royals,\u201d Sherman said. \u201cWe are committed to creating a vision which honors their history \u2014 the rich past of both organizations \u2014 while reinvigorating and reimagining what our future can be together.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/startlandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Royals-Crown-Center-Don-Hall-John-Sherman-02.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nHallmark HQ sends notice to relocate too<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nLegacy of Kauffman Stadium\u2019s namesake<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nAdding shared spirit to the lineup<\/h2>\n