Three Trails Project including Wizards Stadium clears Final Hurdle (Kansas City: sales, buying a home)

[kcmo]

STAR bonds to bring 4000 jobs from MO to a field in Kansas.

Some things in KC will simply never change. Now it's not just JoCo, but WyCo too.

No way can KCMO and MO compete with that. It's simply impossible. KCK has nothing to lose and everything to gain, while KCMO would literally have to pay money to keep the jobs in KCMO. The end result is a metro that continues to sprawl and decay like no other metro in the country.

I'm fine with KCK building a soccer stadium for the Wizards. More power to them to keep the team in town and the Village West area would be a fine location. But do it like a normal community would do it. Raise a small short term tax and fund the stadium that way. Not on the back of another 4000 employees that USED to pay taxes into basic infrastructure like schools, police and roads, especially when those employees used to be in MO.

STAR bonds should be illegal. It's a corporate rip-off like no other and it's a huge part in the continuous destruction of the existing built up areas of KC for new construction on the outskirts and nobody gains long term.

[GraniteStater]

^
I completely agree with you kcmo. One rep point coming right up.

[northbound74]

The doughnut city continues to grow, and the gaping hole in the middle gets more helpless by the day.
I'm sick of it.

Village West needs a soccer stadium almost as bad as they need a second speedway, yet Bannister is already a developed area with freakin' neighborhoods all around it. Neighborhoods that desperately need something to keep it from turning into just another Troost.

How many people actually live within a mile radius of Village West? Sprawl at it's downright ugliest.

There is no cooperation within this metro area. A little healthy competition is one thing, but to be so spineless as to pull the rug out under from maybe the one thing that could help southeast KC out. Even after KC has gone to great lengths to make it happen.
That's low.
We all know that merely throwing another shopping something-or-other will only last 4-5 years at best down there.
It has to be much, much more than just that. This whole soccer complex, retail, office whatever else deal looked very promising. It was their best chance at turning things around.

Some will say that it doesn't matter what you put on the corner of Bannister and 435, the neighborhood is gone. Let it go to the dogs. Who cares, right? They've done it to themselves, and they should have been snottier about who they let buy in, right? That seems to be the attitude of way too many around here.
What if this was originally to put in place of the old Indian Springs shopping center, and then Grain Valley decides to roll out the red carpet for it, basically doing everything but fielding the players, and throwing the company picnics for Cerner? KCK probably wouldn't appreciate that, I don't think.

[RJDBLues]

Atlanta had a mid-town area that was filled with "projects" that were falling apart and crime ridden. They tore down the projects to build a beautiful shopping and entertainment area. They now have an Ikea, high end strip mall, aquarium, townhouses, and condos. The area is alive and very productive making tons of money. On the down side, the families that lived in the projects ended up moving out into the burbs. The school I taught at went from top rated to bad in one year. The inner city students were so far behind and had major behavior issues. The home values in the burb community dropped. Funny, how there was this exodus of the poor to the burbs one year then an exodus of the middle class out of the burbs the next. The middle class just moved further away from the city. In the end, the poor were living in a nicer area with better housing. A new burb was created by the middle class moving further out. Best of all, the midtown area got a shot in the arm of major income.

Yes, the project is for the citizens of KC but it is also to draw in more tourist. Tourist = $. Sounds like a win-win for the city and the citizens.

[northbound74]

The paper this morning makes it sound like it was mostly the Wizards idea, that WyCo was clueless , and just happy to be there to help. Something isn't right about this mess. The Wizards complete lack of commitment is just part of it. One more reason to aviod soccer.

[Samantha S]

KCMO dropped the ball, WyCo picked it up and ran.

Sucks for KCMO, but that's the game.

WyCo already had the money tap in place, development in that area already has momentum and critical mass. KCMO was dragging its feet. Who would not have seen this coming? (Other than the KCMO leadership, that is.)

[OneKC]

I usually get mad at stuff like this, but I can't fault any of the parties. Wizards needed a place to play, Trails wasn't going to be developed anytime soon, wasn't really the fault of KCMO. Economy sucks and retail isn't going to pop up in new developments for awhile, while WyCo already had retail. KCMO can't offer more incentives, they are cash strapped as it is. WyCo had a unique situation where they were paying of STAR Bonds early and could roll them over for something else. Missouri doesn't give KC the tools it needs to compete like Kansas does.

It sucks, but I think the Wizards will be better off. What I am disappointed with is hearing people on the radio and online bag on Bannister so much. I worked there in the 90s and it wasn't that bad. The concerns about "shootings" are WAYYYY overblown. And besides, people said the same thing about the Legends site before that was built (it was too dangerous!) I really hope they can build something better at Bannister.

[RjRobb2]

Originally Posted by northbound74

The paper this morning makes it sound like it was mostly the Wizards idea, that WyCo was clueless , and just happy to be there to help. Something isn't right about this mess. The Wizards complete lack of commitment is just part of it. One more reason to aviod soccer.

You are way offbase there.

I am a Wizards STH and have been since day one. I even use to work for the team.

I have followed this entire debacle from day one. I know a lot about it as I know a lot of people that work for the Wizards and Cerner.

The lack of committment isnt from the Wizards. It is from KCMO. The Wizards have done everything to try and push this along and keeps getting nothing but hoops from KCMO. Every single step, KCMO has drug their feet and cause nothing but delays.

Orginally, the phase one of the Three Trails project was to be done by 2011. Now, they are looking at 2015 or later if it happens at all.

The Wizards have said all along that Three Trails is their primary choice. It still is their primary choice. But, they cant wait forever.

No MLS team has made a profit playing in someone elses stadium. It just doesnt happen. The Wizards have to have their own venue to be profitable. MLS is mandating that all MLS have their own stadiums. This has to be done. It cant happen 5-6 years from now, it has to happen now.

OnGoal, who owns the Wizards is the most locally committed ownership group this city has ever seen for a Major League Team. The Chiefs and Wizards are owned by out of town owners who would move those teams in a second if the city didnt play to their wishes. The new renovations were payed almost purely by taxpayers.

The Wizards stadium at Three Trails was to be about 110 million. Guess What? The Wizards were paying 70 million of that. You NEVER see an ownership group in any sport contribute that much of their own money to a stadium.

You say it is a reason to avoid soccer, I would say it is the complete opposite. You can go watch the Chiefs and Royals all day long but those owners dont care about winning teams, they only care about making money. OnGoal cares about winning and their fans more than Hunt Sports Group and David Glass ever will.

[northbound74]

I claim ignorance. Last I heard on Bannister was that it was to be done by '11. The whole thing is still wrong on many levels.

[OneKC]

Originally Posted by kcmo

STAR bonds should be illegal.

How are Kansas STAR bonds, different than Missouri Super TIFs? I'm not challenging you, I genuinely want to know if there is a difference. Is it a matter of getting the money up front?