A resolution to approve a five-year management agreement for the baseball stadium at Village West is on the agenda for the 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, Unified Government Commission meeting.
Max Fun Entertainment LLC would manage the baseball stadium in Village West, according to the Oct. 17 agenda, online at www.wycokck.org. The UG meeting will be held at the Commission Chambers, lobby level, City Hall, 701 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kansas.
The UG evicted the former baseball management, the T-Bones, on Monday morning, locking the doors at T-Bones Stadium.
According to agenda information, the UG and Max Fun would make a five-year agreement, with three five-year renewal options.
Max Fun would buy and manage a new baseball team that would play home games at the Village West stadium, and would manage all other stadium operations, according to the proposed agreement.
According to the proposed agreement, Max Fun would spend at least $500,000 on capital improvements on the stadium before May 1, 2022. They also would try to develop event spaces open to the public on a year-round basis, which might include sand volleyball, pickleball courts, a sports bar or outdoor music stage. The UG will spend at least $1 million from a restricted STAR bond account that would only be expended on this stadium within two years on capital improvements to the stadium, according to the proposed agreement.
The UG, under the proposed agreement, would be entitled to 5 percent of all money derived from nonbaseball events at the stadium.
The proposed agreement stated the parties would continue to split the cost of utilities at the stadium for the first year of the agreement. After the first year, Max Fun would take over all utility payments.
The stadium property is tax exempt, and Max Fun would pay the property taxes of the parking lot and common area maintenance, under the proposed agreement.
The agreement requires Max Fund to get a letter of credit for $100,000 to cover payments of utility charges after the first year and a surety bond to cover the capital improvements. Max Fun also would have to get a guarantor of sufficient net worth to guarantee the letter of credit and the capital improvement obligations, according to the proposed agreement.
The proposed agreement also stated the stadium would be available for local high school baseball games, use by the UG Recreation Department and the public for community events and fundraisers.
Max Fun would pay a 50-cent per ticket tax to go to improvement of park facilities in Wyandotte County, and the fund is capped at $20,000 for the first two years of the agreement.
According to documents on file with the Kansas Secretary of State’s office, Max Fund Entertainment LLC was filed as a corporation on Oct. 10, 2019. The organizer of the corporation was listed as Mark F. Brandmeyer of Leawood, Kansas.
Brandmeyer is an entrepreneur who is the principal owner at Brandmeyer Enterprises and a partner in Built, a prefab construction company, according to a news release from the UG.
The UG stated that if the UG Commission approves the management agreement, the next step will be reviewed by league officials with the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. League approval will be the final step in Max Fun taking over ownership and operations of the T-Bones.
I for one hope it gets approved. KCK really needs something affordable to enjoy.
Thank you for the update.