The Kansas City Wizards' ownership group, OnGoal, LLC, is on the move again. As reported by the Kansas City Star, developers hired by OnGoal filed plans this past Thursday with Kansas City officials for a 467-acre, $943 million dollar development plan to revitalize a southeast section of the city where a once vital but now vacant shopping mall currently stands.
A primary component of Lane4 Property Group's mixed-use plan, called the Three Trails Redevelopment plan, includes an 18,500-seat soccer stadium owned by the city that would house the Wizards and form a symbiotic relationship with a connected 250-room hotel, 12 tournament quality soccer fields, 609,000 square feet of retail space and 610,500 square feet of office space.
Having already provided the Wizards with a new and larger coaching staff, an increased office staff, and a world-class training facility in their first year of ownership, the Kansas City-based group led by co-founders and executives Cliff Illig and Neal Patterson of the medical software firm Cerner Corp., is endeavoring to provide a destination for soccer fans and citizens from all over the Kansas City metropolitan area.
"We're excited about this site," said Illig, a principal member of OnGoal, to the Star. "It not only has huge potential for the soccer piece, but other pieces as well."
Last November, OnGoal witnessed a proposal for a youth soccer complex, which would have eventually been accompanied by a stadium for the Wizards, go down to defeat in a November vote by citizens in Johnson County, Kansas, approximately 16 miles across the state line from the Missouri site proposed by Lane4. A major point trumpeted by the opposition was perceived subsidizing of the ambitions of a sports team and its rich owners.
Although this new proposal apparently will not see a public vote, it will seek public funds, and thus has its own hurdles to leap due to the damaged image of tax increment financing (TIF) in Kansas City. According to an Aug. 29 article in the Star, the Economic Development and Incentive Policy Task Force, composed of community representatives and elected officials and appointed by newly elected Mayor Mark Funkhouser, suggested limiting the TIF incentive, which diverts the increased property taxes earned by the new project back to the developer to offset eligible project costs for a limited time, to blighted areas and small businesses.
According to the Star, Funkhouser has been given the basics of Lane4's proposal.
"It looks wonderful," Funkhouser said. "The question is how much does it cost and what they're looking for from the city. I'm going to keep an open mind."
Lane4 is seeking $267 million in tax incentives and other help from the city and the state, about 28 percent of the total cost.
The proposed project could have a big payoff for all involved. The blight brought on by the failed mall and the surrounding vacant businesses would be eradicated, the Wizards would have a place to call their own, and the whole southeast area of Kansas City would be on the upswing.
"When I was in Los Angeles and we were preparing to build [The Home Depot Center, located in Carson, Calif., just south of L.A.], I don't think anybody really understood how much it was going to help the city of Carson," said former Galaxy and current Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman. "I think it really revitalized the community. It can have a similar [result] here in Kansas City."
The Wizards will have to vacate their current home of Arrowhead Stadium after this season due to renovations taking place. Ideally, the team would be housed in a yet to be announced temporary facility for two seasons at the most. The future fate and possible timeline for following the Three Trails plan could become more concrete when the TIF commission discusses the request for funds and holds a public hearing during its Sept. 12 meeting.
Bob Rusert is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
