With multi-billion Chiefs’ empire moving to KCK, some want the city revitalized

Although rumors have been circulating for months, official news that the Kansas City Chiefs will build a new stadium in Wyandotte County surprised residents on both sides of the state line.

Now that local officials and residents finally understand the move, community leaders in Kansas City, Kan., want to ensure that businesses and homes east of Interstate 635 benefit from any economic activity generated by stadium construction on the city’s far west side.

As negotiations between the state, city and teams continue, several KCK Neighborhood Business and Revitalization groups (NBR) told The Star they want to see government leadership advocate for written terms that create opportunities for businesses and developers in east KCK.

They also want to see transparency into how these opportunities are pursued.

They noted that parties involved in the negotiations had the opportunity to include provisions that would benefit eastern businesses into future community benefit agreements. Those local leaders said the agreement should include how the Chiefs will make long-term investments in Wyandotte County.

New employment opportunities, fair opportunities

Edgar Galicia, who heads the KCK Center Area Improvement Association, said he’s heard time and time again that westward growth means urban investment.

While major developments like Legends Mall, the U.S. Soccer facility and the Kansas Speedway have brought economic activity and helped put KCK on the map, Galicia said he believes the deals ultimately benefit the businesses rather than the long-term disinvested communities.

CABA is still conducting research before making a formal decision on whether to support the stadium project. The group has been studying community benefits agreements between major sports franchises building new stadiums elsewhere around the country.

Galicia said from those agreements, his organization is interested in provisions involving community involvement and public meetings before land acquisition transactions and other major decisions made throughout the development and planning process.

When officials first introduced the Chiefs’ move to Kansas, they said the project would create more than 20,000 jobs in the area. Galicia said CABA wants to ensure Wyandotte County’s local workforce is explicitly included in these hiring and subcontracting opportunities.

Galicia said that inclusion could look like teams, state or local governments helping local companies obtain financing and growing them to the point where they can serve as subcontractors on projects involving stadiums or entertainment districts.

When game day finally arrives, CABA wants to make sure Wyandotte County residents interested in attending the game don’t have to deal with a standing room only situation. He said residents should be able to purchase tickets for seats in the new stadium during hours-long games.

Transparency and vitality

Sarah Ortvedt of the Rosedale Development Association said many local community groups haven’t decided what they think about the chief’s agreement because there’s so much they don’t know about it.

Ortved believes that as the climate warms in the coming months, community groups will have more opportunities to hold hearings to hear concerns and ideas about the deal.

In the meantime, the coalition has had many opportunities to have open conversations with the community about the project, Ortvedt said. This conversation should include the government’s plans and strategies for bringing the city’s heritage communities into negotiations.

Ortvedt said the Chiefs’ move to KCK is an opportunity to rewrite other preconceived ideas the Kansas City metro has about Wyandotte County. She said the community gets a bad rap and is often ignored in regional discussions.

But a community benefits agreement that incorporates philanthropy and considers neighborhood improvements and revitalization could draw attention to an east KCK neighborhood filled with arts, culture and historic local businesses.

“This is an opportunity for KCK to show what it’s about,” she said.

Ortveit said getting that kind of recognition on the East Side isn’t just about osmosis. This is something that has to be solidified in writing, and that will come from community organizing and advocating for what they want to see.

Development in the west, investment in the east

It’s something KCK residents have seen for years, and something residents have lamented repeatedly at public meetings: tourism setting up shop in undeveloped areas of the city’s rural West End. With this comes increased housing stock, economic growth and new revenue streams to help local governments operate.

But when this development happens, neighborhoods in the city’s core, like the Northeast Corner and the downtown corridor, don’t feel the massive wave of progress spreading up and down their neighborhoods.

While the Jindaro Avenue commercial corridor is home to well-known local eateries and businesses, it still lacks a grocery store within walking distance of residents. The high cost of living, coupled with rising utility and property taxes, has left some areas facing historic disinvestment and redlining that feel frozen in time.

That doesn’t mean locals aren’t trying to address these issues. Some small developers and community organizations are already doing what they can to bring life to downtown’s open spaces. They also add to the local housing stock by building affordable homes.

But with a $3 billion dome slated for completion in 2031, bringing the $1 billion Chiefs empire to the west of KCK, local residents want to ensure that as people flock to the area for home games, money and opportunity also flow into the entire Wyandotte County community. They hope those promises go well beyond the stadium itself and the entertainment district that Gov. Laura Kelly touted when she announced the Chiefs’ move back in December.

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and KCK created a Community Benefit Fund in 2023 specifically to ensure that any future development in Wyandotte County improves KCK as a whole, especially communities east of I-635.

Beginning in 2024, a portion of the issuance and administrative costs of economic development projects that receive local incentives will begin to go directly into the fund for local initiatives such as the Senior Home Repair Program and the Affordable Housing Trust, according to the coalition government.

“If our babies, those struggling with housing, and our seniors are taken care of, Wyandotte County will be fine. That’s what the Community Benefits Ordinance is meant to do,” District 8 Commissioner Andrew Davis, one of those who supported the ordinance, said when it was approved. “As Wyandotte County’s economic development continues to take off, investment in these important target areas will continue to take off.”

Minority Businesses and Future Projects

Still, some residents worry officials won’t have everyone’s best interests in mind when negotiating.

KCK resident Murray D. Anderson Sr. filed a lawsuit last year against the Kansas Department of Commerce, alleging discriminatory allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funds to Kansas in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The lawsuit is currently in the appeals process.

In that lawsuit, Anderson argued that the Kansas Department of Commerce did not provide adequate funding to minority-owned businesses.

Anderson also runs freedmen international bank corp. said he was concerned the Commerce Department might hinder incentives for Black and brown businesses in Wyandotte County.

As a result, he asked the Kansas City Chiefs to join his lawsuit against the department. Murray said he hopes this will ensure funding for minority-owned businesses is included in the language of community benefits agreements and any future projects in predominantly black and brown communities.

Murray said he had not received a response from the Chiefs as of press time.