An expanded STAR bond district for the Village East area was approved at the June 7 Unified Government Economic Development and Finance Committee meeting.
The STAR bond district expansion was “fast-tracked” and added to the 7 p.m. Thursday, June 10, agenda for the full UG Commission.
According to developers for the Homefield project at the old Schlitterbahn property, a 300-acre area is being extended to 350 acres.
Some projects formerly in one part of the development are being moved to another part of the development in this amended project, according to Robb Heineman, with the Homefield development. Heineman also is the co-owner of Sporting KC.
There is an extended area east of 94th Street between Parallel and State Avenue.
According to UG Administrator Doug Bach, the developer has already spent more than $20 million in land acquisition and demolition costs so far.
He said they want to bring in a new development called Perfect Game.
Heineman said Perfect Game is a very high quality operator that runs tournaments throughout the country. He said developers were able to attract Perfect Game to the Kansas City area.
Twelve baseball fields will be built for Perfect Game events, and a 13th will be built for some events, he said. The attraction will add 75,000 room nights a year for hotels in the next 12 years, he said.
Heineman said they have closed on property for the new Fairfield Inn, a 90-room hotel.
They have signed a letter of intent with a water-themed resort-style hotel to have more than 300 rooms, he added. It would be a full-service hotel. Another hotel is possible, with around 100 rooms.
Also in the STAR bond area, two more car dealerships are slated to open in mid-2022.
According to UG officials, the STAR bonds for this project affect only sales tax. Property taxes are not affected.
The EDF Committee also approved an ordinance on the amended project plans for areas 2B, 3 and 5 within the Village East STAR Bond District. This action set a public hearing for the project on June 24.
The committee also approved a resolution authorizing the execution of a supplemental indenture with regard to an industrial revenue bond issue from 2017 for the Dairy Farmers of America project.
In other action, the Neighborhood and Community Development Committee killed a proposal for a development that would have been built with shipping containers at 3119 Strong Ave. The proposal died when no one made a motion for it. It could be brought back again later, according to commissioners.
The applicant, Oliver Tanner, wanted to use Land Bank property to build an area ringed by decorated or painted shipping containers, with an open courtyard in the middle including picnic tables. There would be a food truck, with pizza available.
The idea was held over from a past meeting so that commissioners could hear about it.
Commissioner Jim Walters said he’s not a fan of shipping containers being used for building projects in Wyandotte County. It is a prominent corner at 32nd and Strong, and it would not be the highest and best use of this land, he said.
Ramon Murguia, an attorney, told the committee he had an office across from this location. He said there had been several investments in the area in recent years, including a new library nearby. Offices and a bank are very close to the location.
He said this is not a warehouse or industrial district, where projects with shipping containers have been built, but a business district. Shipping containers are not up to the standards of the business district, he said.
Tanner said he has been looking at ways to bring up the appearance of the shipping containers. He said he wanted to work with the community. He said he would do whatever was needed to accommodate the community and keep up the professional appearance.
Jeff Bryant agreed it was more of a brick-and-mortar neighborhood and not an industrial or warehouse neighborhood. Commissioner Brian McKiernan agreed there were other places where this project would fit in better.
The details about the Village East projects are contained in the EDF Committee agenda online at https://civicclerk.blob.core.windows.net/stream/WYCOKCK/8fa4271a51.pdf?sv=2015-12-11&sr=b&sig=ewM4fqwAU0LMrwOojprGe24o60VtV1kqlTfDWkqQE80%3D&st=2021-06-08T04%3A19%3A07Z&se=2022-06-08T04%3A24%3A07Z&sp=r&rscc=no-cache&rsct=application%2Fpdf.
The EDF meeting, with more information about these projects, also is on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwLIjDiHrVI.