Royals Stadium and Hallmark Headquarters Agreements Clear Committee Unanimously En Route to Full Council Approval

"Today is a homerun for Kansas City. The Royals and Hallmark downtown will bring millions of people to our city core, build thousands of jobs in the heart of our region, and will extend benefits to every corner of Kansas City and our area," said Mayor Quinton Lucas. "Rising cities retain their teams, retain key businesses and jobs, ensure great wages, and take care of the basics. This August, Kansas City has authorized billions of dollars into infrastructure, millions into affordable housing, and historic preservation, and ensures today that we can walk and chew gum-building a better life for every Kansas Citian and making sure our city is a place people want to come and want to be."

The agreements chart the path for the largest economic development project in Kansas City history, bringing tens of thousands of jobs and millions of visitors to Downtown Kansas City, providing benefits throughout Kansas City to youth sports, the arts community, and our Negro Leagues baseball heritage, and building an agreement that differs from the prior Jackson County lease to better protect taxpayers by using revenues from the project and the adjacent area with support from the State of Missouri to fund the project and shifting costs currently owed by the taxpayers of Jackson County, such as insurance and maintenance costs, to the team. The Royals will hold Kansas City Public Schools harmless and have committed to paying the best wages for any regional professional sports franchise for service workers and have agreed to terms for higher wages with the Service Employees International Union.

With full committee support, the ordinance authorizing agreements is expected to receive full Council approval on Thursday, August 19. The zoning authorization will appear before full Council on Thursday, September 3.

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