The work to get the Wizards stadium built out at the Legends continues to move ahead, and today we find out that the Wizards and OnGoal have "sweetened" the deal for the STAR Bonds that would help finance the building of the stadium. According to the KC Business Journal, the Wizards, OnGoal, and Cerner have made some changes to their request to the state in hopes of getting the STAR Bonds. The group has brought the requested STAR Bond money down from $173 million to $155 million. With the project as a whole being $420 million, that means just under 37% of the project would bet covered by the STAR Bonds, instead of 41% of the project. They have also pledged 1,000 more jobs, bringing the total to 9,000 new jobs for Wyandotte County and raised the proposed average salary of those positions over $10,000 to $65,000 per year.
In more news on the project, Charles Gooch over at Ink had an interview with Tim Weaver from Lane4 to discuss the project. Being a Wizards fan himself, Gooch was able to get some information that many Wizards fans will be interested in reading about the stadium. He gets some updated information about the entertainment district area that would be going up in the same area as the stadium, including an idea of what to expect to be in that area (bars, restaurants, etc) and what sort of events would be held there (concerts, festivals, tennis, and other sporting events). According to Weaver (via advisory and planning firm, Conventions, Sports and Leisure International), the stadium and entertainment area, along with the soccer feilds, would host upwards of 800 events a year. That's a shocking number when you think about it. That's over 2 events each day out in that area, including double headers, youth tournaments, concert tie ins and multiple other events. Seriously that is a jaw dropping number of events that could end up being held at this area.
As Gooch mentions, the exclusive negotiation deal that the team signed with Wyandotte County expired tonight, but like Gooch, I'm confident something will get done out at the Legends. Whether it's Monday, or early next week as Gooch says, I don't know, but that would be fantastic news if it is true. And with all the other talk recently it certainly seems like it could be true. Overall, a great post by Gooch with some great information on the development that Wizards fans might not get from the major media.
With these two articles, things seem to be really moving forward and exciting right now. Hopefully we'll hear something good before the Wizards even take the field again at CAB next Saturday the 17th.
Showing posts with label Lane4. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lane4. Show all posts
Friday, October 09, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Bannister Stalled
Missed this a week ago, but there is currently a little trouble over at the Bannister Mall site. Due to the economy as a whole right now, which is scaring off banks from financing and businesses from expanding and moving, the entire project at the Bannister site is stalled, including the Wizards stadium. While the documentation for state tax credits that have been approved they have not been finalized. And Lane4 is talking with the city about how to move things along faster. The project isn't being shelved, and the plan is to still have the Wizards stadium there, but right now things are in a bit of a holding pattern.
KC city councilman, John Sharp makes a good point in the article saying that the Wizards stadium may have to be built first to help spur on the rest of the development as a whole. We'll see what happens, but I wouldn't start with the "Will the Wizards move?" talk just yet. This is going to be an issue anywhere in the US right now, places aren't wanting to spend money in this down economy and getting "fun" things built like stadiums aren't high on the priority list at the moment.
KC city councilman, John Sharp makes a good point in the article saying that the Wizards stadium may have to be built first to help spur on the rest of the development as a whole. We'll see what happens, but I wouldn't start with the "Will the Wizards move?" talk just yet. This is going to be an issue anywhere in the US right now, places aren't wanting to spend money in this down economy and getting "fun" things built like stadiums aren't high on the priority list at the moment.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
New Stadium Renderings
For those of you waiting for some up to date stadium renderings of the Wizards soccer specific stadium, you can now breath a bit of a sign of relief. On Lane4's site for the Trails development, they have posted some new renderings that look to be fairly official renderings of the facility. There are two photos of the new renderings, one and two. So those of you that were on the ledge wondering about the stadium and when we'd see renderings, take a deep breath and check out the photos.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Stadium Opening Delays
Things are not looking good at the moment for the Wizards stadium at Hillcrest Road opening up in time for the 2011 season. According to the Kansas City Business Journal, it looks like chances are starting to get very slim for an opening in 2011. Due to the current state of the economy it's hard for the developers to sign any retail or office tenants for the project. This means that the Wizards could be spending a fourth season at Community America, or possibly find a new location, potentially Arrowhead since renovations would be done there.
The article also brings the ugly idea of relocation back to the forefront saying that the Wizards occasionally get offers from other cities trying to lure a team there. The problem with the statement in the article is that it doesn't come from a person working for OnGoal or the Wizards, but someone working for Lane4Property Group, which makes the statement very odd. The other thing in the article that is disturbing is the lack of comment by Robb Heineman who is usually more than willing to give a quote on the project. Hopefully this is just a small bump in the road, but it's certainly not good for the team that they could be spending a fourth season without a permanent home.
The article also brings the ugly idea of relocation back to the forefront saying that the Wizards occasionally get offers from other cities trying to lure a team there. The problem with the statement in the article is that it doesn't come from a person working for OnGoal or the Wizards, but someone working for Lane4Property Group, which makes the statement very odd. The other thing in the article that is disturbing is the lack of comment by Robb Heineman who is usually more than willing to give a quote on the project. Hopefully this is just a small bump in the road, but it's certainly not good for the team that they could be spending a fourth season without a permanent home.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Mall Demolition
For those that haven't seen it over at The Back Post, Thad has found out that the media have been invited to the mall tomorrow for some real demolition. Up until this point, they've been doing some internal demolition, but it looks like we're finally going to see the mall start to go down. Unfortunately, I will be at work tomorrow and will be unable to make the demolition, but I've been promised that Thad will have pictures of the event.
Monday, December 15, 2008
The Other Side of the Coin
Today over at KC Soccer Review I came across a commentary from Bruce Rodgers on @KC Online about the redevelopment at Bannister Mall. It's a generally negative article about the burden being put on tax payers. There are a few points in his commentary that I would like to comment on, and it gets a little long.
First is the above comment about not having the full price of the project and therefore not the full price that the city and state is covering. What he doesn't mention is that with basically any project there is going to be fluctuation with the price of the project, you're not going to get a straight number on the whole project until it is finished. Up unto this point, that it's just the expected cost of the project. It's the same with the redevelopment of the Truman Sports Complex for the Chiefs and Royals. And like with that redevelopment, the overages are going to be covered by the team/developers. Unlike that development, the team/developers are actually covering the costs of the majority of the development.
Rodgers then says this:
He seems to be trying to make a snide comment about what the taxpayers get from the development and talks about the current financial situation in the country. What he seems to miss in his statement is that this development will create jobs for people that are currently being laid off. It will create construction jobs for the next few years while the development is being completed. Once it's completed more new jobs will be created as people will be needed to work in the new area.
Rodgers then goes on to talk about the number of people the development will bring to the area. He questions the numbers saying that if so many people come into the area, then why haven't the Chiefs and Royals had commercial built up around the Truman Sports Complex. My take on why? Because the teams get the money from parking fees to get into the complex. Giving up land to developers to develop the area would likely cut into the money that the team can get from parking, and Glass and Hunt are going to definitely want to keep that money.
He goes on to touch on numbers for the vacancies that are available in shopping centers in South KC. Most of that vacancy likely comes from the open buildings currently in the mall and the surrounding area.
Rodgers then goes on to make this statement:
Maybe it's me, but I don't consider the Bannister area as being Eastern Jackson County. And even so, Buckley is talking about two different situations. In the second quote, Buckley is referring directly to the Bannister area, which certainly has a huge void in any type of retail there.
Rodgers then throws out this gem about MLS and the current expansion.
What he doesn't mention in the fact that attendance fell in 2008 is the fact that two of the league's teams played the majority of their games in stadiums that seat just over 10,000 people (KC and SJ). With that being said, of course attendance is going to be down when those two teams are usually getting about 10,000 fans a game.
He then uses the drop in attendance as a reason why the leagues expansion are meeting resistance and specifically notes Montreal. This is a blatant, flat out lie. IF this was true, then why were there 7 bids from investors willing and ready to invest in the league? Why are there still 6 of those bids on the table? The only one pulled, was Montreal, who pulled out/was dropped because the investor didn't want to pay the expansion fee along with the cost of upgrading the stadium in Montreal that they would be using, it had nothing to do with the attendance.
Rodgers again shows a lack of knowledge of the sport by saying there's talk of an all-Canadian soccer league. If there is such talk seriously going on, it's something that I haven't heard or seen, and I spend a lot more time reading about soccer than Rodgers does.
He then goes and says the only reason this development is being done is because the developers have the support from the taxpayers, and so that OnGoal can recoup their investment and then sell the team.
I'd love to see where he's getting that thought process from. Why would the two Cerner Corporation executives, co-founder Neal L. Patterson and co-founder Cliff Illig, who are in OnGoal, want to hurt their standing as "heavyweight civic leaders" as Rodgers says by selling the team and leaving the city on the hook for the stadium and development? He makes the statement "One can assume buying the KC Wizards was an investment for the six, community spirit notwithstanding." but doesn't give any reason behind this statement, just seems to be bitter.
The next thing that Rodgers touches on is the soccer specific stadium.
His talk about it being a theory is misplaced, considering Garber has said that 5 of the 7 teams that played all of last season in an SSS (LA, Dallas, Chicago, Denver, and Toronto) were expected to make a profit next year. That number should increase next year, with RSL getting a full season in their own stadium as well as Seattle coming close to being profitable with their good deal at Qwest, shirt sponsor deal, and large season ticket base already. New York should be joining them in the future too once Red Bull Park is complete. As I've shown, the teams that are in SSS have increased their value by becoming profitable in an SSS.
As it is when developers seek to burden taxpayers with risk they won’t fully assume themselves, the numbers are all over the place. The $273 million figure in TIF assistance has also been listed as $267 million and $260 million — it all depends on which media outlet is reporting. Nailing down the total cost for redeveloping the abandoned Bannister Mall area also depends upon which news outlet referenced. The Kansas City Star first reported $943 million, a year later $949 million, the Kansas City Business Journal duplicated the Star’s figures and, until recently, Lane4 uses the same amount on its www.thetrailskc.com website. A $1 billion to $1.1 billion pops up in articles from commercial real estate development trade publications and websites, and on blogs commenting about major league soccer.
First is the above comment about not having the full price of the project and therefore not the full price that the city and state is covering. What he doesn't mention is that with basically any project there is going to be fluctuation with the price of the project, you're not going to get a straight number on the whole project until it is finished. Up unto this point, that it's just the expected cost of the project. It's the same with the redevelopment of the Truman Sports Complex for the Chiefs and Royals. And like with that redevelopment, the overages are going to be covered by the team/developers. Unlike that development, the team/developers are actually covering the costs of the majority of the development.
Rodgers then says this:
And for taking on this outrageous burden, what will the taxpayers get? As consumers fear more job losses, as businesses continue to layoff employees and retail consumption falls to record lows, Lane4 proposes over 1.1 million in retail space, 1.7 million in office space, 12 soccer fields, a hotel and an 18,500-seat soccer stadium for the Wizards.
He seems to be trying to make a snide comment about what the taxpayers get from the development and talks about the current financial situation in the country. What he seems to miss in his statement is that this development will create jobs for people that are currently being laid off. It will create construction jobs for the next few years while the development is being completed. Once it's completed more new jobs will be created as people will be needed to work in the new area.
Rodgers then goes on to talk about the number of people the development will bring to the area. He questions the numbers saying that if so many people come into the area, then why haven't the Chiefs and Royals had commercial built up around the Truman Sports Complex. My take on why? Because the teams get the money from parking fees to get into the complex. Giving up land to developers to develop the area would likely cut into the money that the team can get from parking, and Glass and Hunt are going to definitely want to keep that money.
He goes on to touch on numbers for the vacancies that are available in shopping centers in South KC. Most of that vacancy likely comes from the open buildings currently in the mall and the surrounding area.
Rodgers then goes on to make this statement:
Buckley admitted the down retail market in a Sept. 19, 2008 article in the Kansas City Business Journal: “I think Eastern Jackson County is a lot like other parts of the city that are pretty well retailed and probably needs to take a little breather,” he is quoted.
It must of have a quick turnaround in market forces because on Sept. 4, 2008, Buckley was quoted on the REJournals.com website as stating, “There is a huge void of retail in this area.”
Maybe it's me, but I don't consider the Bannister area as being Eastern Jackson County. And even so, Buckley is talking about two different situations. In the second quote, Buckley is referring directly to the Bannister area, which certainly has a huge void in any type of retail there.
Rodgers then throws out this gem about MLS and the current expansion.
Overall, MLS attendance has dropped 1.9% for 2008 from 2007. Because of those numbers, expansion plans for the league are meeting resistance. Montreal, one city talked about for expansion, has its opponents to a MLS team there and there’s talk of an all-Canadian soccer league instead of going with MLS franchises. In summing up a MLS team in Montreal, Pat Hickey wrote on www.canada.com, “Looking for growth? It’s nonexistent. The average attendance is lower than it was in the league’s 1996 inaugural season.”
What he doesn't mention in the fact that attendance fell in 2008 is the fact that two of the league's teams played the majority of their games in stadiums that seat just over 10,000 people (KC and SJ). With that being said, of course attendance is going to be down when those two teams are usually getting about 10,000 fans a game.
He then uses the drop in attendance as a reason why the leagues expansion are meeting resistance and specifically notes Montreal. This is a blatant, flat out lie. IF this was true, then why were there 7 bids from investors willing and ready to invest in the league? Why are there still 6 of those bids on the table? The only one pulled, was Montreal, who pulled out/was dropped because the investor didn't want to pay the expansion fee along with the cost of upgrading the stadium in Montreal that they would be using, it had nothing to do with the attendance.
Rodgers again shows a lack of knowledge of the sport by saying there's talk of an all-Canadian soccer league. If there is such talk seriously going on, it's something that I haven't heard or seen, and I spend a lot more time reading about soccer than Rodgers does.
He then goes and says the only reason this development is being done is because the developers have the support from the taxpayers, and so that OnGoal can recoup their investment and then sell the team.
I'd love to see where he's getting that thought process from. Why would the two Cerner Corporation executives, co-founder Neal L. Patterson and co-founder Cliff Illig, who are in OnGoal, want to hurt their standing as "heavyweight civic leaders" as Rodgers says by selling the team and leaving the city on the hook for the stadium and development? He makes the statement "One can assume buying the KC Wizards was an investment for the six, community spirit notwithstanding." but doesn't give any reason behind this statement, just seems to be bitter.
The next thing that Rodgers touches on is the soccer specific stadium.
Obviously, MLS wants to increase the worth of its franchises. One of the ways the league believes it can do that is through expansion into cities that will provide a team a “soccer-specific” stadium. Such a facility — goes the theory — will increase attendance, or if not, at least increase the worth of the team’s franchise and overall MLS.
His talk about it being a theory is misplaced, considering Garber has said that 5 of the 7 teams that played all of last season in an SSS (LA, Dallas, Chicago, Denver, and Toronto) were expected to make a profit next year. That number should increase next year, with RSL getting a full season in their own stadium as well as Seattle coming close to being profitable with their good deal at Qwest, shirt sponsor deal, and large season ticket base already. New York should be joining them in the future too once Red Bull Park is complete. As I've shown, the teams that are in SSS have increased their value by becoming profitable in an SSS.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
The Mall is Coming Down
Lane4, OnGoal, and the Wizards got their wish from the KC City Council, as they approved extra $30 million incentives for the Three Trails development at the old Bannister Mall site. The money does come with caveats attached to it to make sure the development goes well. This is big news, as it appears to be the very last step that is needed for demolition and construction to begin on the site. With the state of the economy, Lane4 had been looking to get the incentives for the project.
The article also has a very early plan on when demolition at the mall can begin. Owen Buckley of Lane4 says that they want to get demolition going sometime in the next 60-120 days. Not exactly as early as people wanted the mall to start being destroyed, but it'll be nice to finally see construction begin on this project. The interesting point about the development comes from Buckley in the final paragraph where he talks about retailers preparing for an economic rebound, and with the area not schedule to be completed until 2010-2011, it's getting retailers attention.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Bannister Mall has been Sold
While discussing today's developments on the Bannister Mall redevelopment on bigsoccer. This google cached article was linked. The article talks about how Lane4, the developers in charge of the Three Trails redevelopment, have purchased Bannister Mall from the former owners for $12 million, or $70 per square foot. It's something positive out of what has turned out to be a pretty crappy day with the news that the funding will not be approved on Tuesday. The fact that the mall has been purchased by the developers is at least one good sign towards this project still on the way to completion instead of being on it's way to it's death bed like some people seem to think. The article also mentions other properties that will close in the fourth quarter of this year. All news that certainly helps to brighten what had been a bleak day.
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