The Record › Timeline

How it happened, step by step

From the county vote to the expected public vote

  1. Jackson County rejects the ballpark sales tax

    Voters reject a renewal of the county's 3/8-cent sales tax, which would have funded a Royals ballpark in the Crossroads and a renovation of Arrowhead. Both of the county's election boards certified it down, 58 percent to 42.

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    Question 1 would have extended the county's existing 3/8-cent sales tax at the same rate through 2064; without renewal the tax was set to expire in 2031, when the Royals' and Chiefs' leases end. ref

    Backers estimated the extension would generate about $2 billion over its lifespan, split $1 billion for a new downtown Royals ballpark in the Crossroads and $800 million for renovations to Arrowhead Stadium. ref

    Royals owner John Sherman called the result "deeply disappointing," and Chiefs president Mark Donovan said the teams felt they had "put forth the best offer for Jackson County." ref

    Campaign finance figures showed the "yes" campaign spent about $3 million, while opposition groups KC Tenants and the Committee Against New Royals Stadium Taxes spent roughly $116,000 combined. ref

    After the vote, Mayor Quinton Lucas said he wanted to work with the teams on "a stronger, more open, and collaborative process." ref

  2. Royals and Hallmark announce Crown Center

    A mixed-use ballpark district at Crown Center, in a deal with Hallmark, whose headquarters at 2501 McGee Street will be torn down for it. Chairman John Sherman says the club plans to break ground in 2027.

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    The announced district carries an estimated $3 billion total cost, with the new stadium itself estimated at $1.9 billion. ref

    The Royals and private investors were expected to cover roughly two-thirds of the overall cost, with the city's share described as up to $600 million in Kansas City-backed financing. ref

    Hallmark's executive chairman, Don Hall Jr., said the company would relocate to a newer building within the Crown Center campus, with no public funding for the office project. ref

    Mayor Lucas described the arrangement as a public-private partnership funded by "revenues generated by baseball," saying it involved "no new taxes." ref

    City Manager Mario Vasquez called the target of completing the stadium in time for the 2030 season "an aggressive timeline." ref

  3. Petition signatures certified

    Missouri Workers Power submits 4,500 signatures on June 5 to require a public vote on venue subsidies. The city clerk certifies 3,776 of them as valid, against 2,068 required, by June 23.

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    Missouri Workers Power, a nonprofit representing low-wage workers, organized the petition drive. ref

    Organizers modeled the effort on a 2017 citizens'-initiative campaign that put the Kansas City airport terminal expansion to a public vote. ref

    The proposed ordinance would bar city officials from advancing a publicly funded stadium, arena or similar venue seating more than 2,500 people without voter approval first. ref

    Missouri Workers Power organizer Terrence Wise said Kansas Citians "should have a say on what our tax dollars get spent on." ref

  4. Plan Commission recommends rezoning, with conditions

    The City Plan Commission unanimously approves the rezoning for the ballpark district. A recommendation, not an enactment.

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    The commission attached two conditions to its recommendation: preserving current parking arrangements for San Francisco Tower residents, and requiring a visual, noise and light study be made available to the public. ref

    City planning staff characterized the vote as the first step in the redevelopment process, with the detailed site plan still subject to further administrative city review. ref

    The recommendation covers plans to renovate existing Crown Center buildings, add new commercial structures and build a large apartment complex, potentially expanding Crown Center's total building space from about 9.1 million to 12.6 million square feet. ref

  5. Committee endorses the agreements unanimously

    The Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee approves ordinances 260704 and 260705 without a dissenting vote and sends them to the full Council.

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    Under the agreements taken up by the committee, Kansas City committed $600 million and the Royals committed $760 million toward the $1.9 billion first phase, with an additional $540 million sought from the state's Show-Me Sports Investment Act. ref

    The agreements describe the goal as keeping the Royals in Kansas City for at least the next 30 years, with a new stadium and events venue targeted to open in April 2030. ref

    Mayor Lucas said a $20 million advance to the team would let the city "stop talking at a certain point and start work to employ some people and build this type of stadium." ref

    The committee's endorsement followed an earlier committee session, on August 11, that had held ordinance 260705 on its agenda without acting. doc

  6. Council approves the deal, 11 to 2

    165 pages of agreements pass in a single vote. Ordinance 260704, sponsored by Mayor Quinton Lucas, passed as a committee substitute. Nathan Willett and Johnathan Duncan vote no.

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    Voting yes were Quinton Lucas, Kevin O'Neill, Lindsay French, Wes Rogers, Melissa Patterson Hazley, Melissa Robinson, Crispin Rea, Eric Bunch, Darrell Curls, Ryana Parks-Shaw and Andrea Bough. doc

    The agreements include a 30-year stadium lease at $1 in annual rent, with the team responsible for maintenance and insurance. ref

    Community-benefit commitments in the package total about $55 million over 30 years, including $5 million each to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and a Housing Gateway program, and $14 million for public art. ref

    Combined city and state public funding of about $1.14 billion was described as covering roughly 60 percent of the $1.9 billion first-phase cost. ref

    Councilmember Johnathan Duncan said no independent financial analysis had been presented to the public before the vote, calling the process "reckless" and comparing the subsidy to the city's $167 million loss on the Power & Light District. ref

  7. The rezoning ordinance is held for a later vote

    Ordinance 260705, the rezoning and development plan, is assigned to the Third Read Calendar rather than voted on. It returned to the Council on September 3, when it was held on the docket again, and on September 10 the Council re-referred it to the Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee, which held it on its agenda on September 22.

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    Ordinance 260705 rezones the land from several existing districts to a single Urban Redevelopment district; its Legistar record describes the area as bounded by Pershing Road, Gillham Road, East 27th Street and Main Street. doc

    The ordinance's sponsors are council members Andrea Bough and Kevin O'Neill, along with Mayor Lucas; it was introduced August 6, 2026. doc

    Before its August 20 assignment to the third read calendar, the Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee had already held the item once, on August 11, before recommending it favorably on August 18. doc

    Mayor Lucas gave the reason for the September delay as wanting the city's specialized tax-increment-financing districts "finalized before we move forward," and said he still expected demolition at the site to begin in early 2027. ref

  8. Residents sue

    San Francisco Tower residents file suit against the city, the Royals, and Crown Center.

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    The plaintiff is the San Francisco Association, representing roughly 135 residents of the San Francisco Tower, a 33-story condominium building at 2510 Grand Boulevard completed in 1976. ref

    The suit says the ballpark would be built about 100 feet from the tower's entrance, and that the development agreements omit the tower's recorded easements, lack a utility-relocation plan, and provide no compensation for residents. ref

    It seeks a declaratory judgment on the residents' property rights and a temporary restraining order blocking any demolition, excavation or construction that would disturb the easement areas, the parking garage or the San Francisco Garden. ref

    Residents' attorney Ken McClain said the easements "are property rights," and that obstructing them is "no differently than if they've condemned your lot." ref

    Crown Center responded that it would "continue to provide access to the services [residents] currently enjoy, including access to the parking garage, chilled water, gardens and pool." ref

  9. The Council lets the petition deadline pass

    The Council had 60 days from certification to adopt the petition's ordinance or send it to voters. It did neither.

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    The petition ordinance, had the council adopted it, would have required voter approval before the city subsidized any stadium, arena or similar venue seating more than 2,500 people. ref

    Councilmember Johnathan Duncan said city legal staff had advised finalizing the stadium agreements by August 31 "for the best legal position," and said the rushed timeline was meant to get the agreements "finalized and signed prior to a vote of the people." ref

    Mayor Lucas denied that the deadline had created any time pressure on the council's schedule. ref

  10. Organizers request the April ballot

    Missouri Workers Power formally asks the city clerk to place the measure before voters.

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    Missouri Workers Power's letter cited the city charter provision that, once the council misses its 60-day deadline, the group may ask that its measure go on the next available city election — April 2027, since the November 2026 deadline had already passed. ref

    The proposed ordinance would require voter approval before the city could take future funding, design, planning or permitting action on any sports or entertainment venue with more than 2,500 seats — a rule organizers said would also reach venues such as Starlight Theatre and the Kauffman Center. ref

    Organizer Terrence Wise said, "This fight's not over," and that "the people should be the ones deciding whether we give more than a billion dollars in public financing to a billionaire." ref

    Mayor Lucas responded that "any type of future vote or ordinance does not make a difference" because the council had already passed the funding ordinance, and said he expected demolition to start "early next year." ref

    City staff said they would review the request and that, once signatures are validated, the measure would advance toward the April ballot. ref

  11. Missouri Supreme Court hears the challenge to state stadium funding

    A state senator, a state representative and a taxpayer challenge the Show-Me Sports Investment Act, the law behind the state's share. A lower court dismissed the suit. No ruling date is set.

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    The plaintiffs are state Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove; state Rep. Bryant Wolfin, R-Ste. Genevieve; and Missouri taxpayer Ron Calzone. ref ref

    The suit argues the 2025 law bundles stadium funding with unrelated disaster-relief and property-tax measures in violation of the state constitution's single-subject rule, and that direct state expenditure under the law gives taxpayers standing to sue. ref

    The law lets Missouri back up to 50 percent of a stadium's construction costs with bonds, capped at $50 million a year, plus a 10 percent tax credit capped at $50 million. ref

    The state's attorneys, Michael Patton and Marc Ellinger, argued the plaintiffs lack standing because the law's fiscal note is only "a projection or an estimate," not a direct, concrete expenditure. ref ref

    Sen. Moon told the court, "We are taking taxpayer money, using it for funding private entities." ref

    If the court reverses the circuit court's dismissal, the case would proceed to trial. ref

  12. Council passes the rezoning, 13 to 0

    Ordinance 260705, the rezoning and development plan, passes as a committee substitute, two days after the Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee advanced it. The same meeting approves the stadium's tax-increment financing plan and its revenue bonds, 11 to 2.

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    The minutes record Lucas, O'Neill, Willett, French, Rogers, Patterson Hazley, Robinson, Rea, Bunch, Curls, Parks-Shaw, McManus and Duncan voting aye on ordinance 260705. doc

    The committee substitute adds an appropriation of $5,000 from the Development Services Fund for public communication, and recognizes the ordinance as having an accelerated effective date. doc doc

    Ordinance 260888 approves the Downtown Stadium Tax Increment Financing Plan and enacts a "Stadium Impact Area Policy" in the city code. It passed as substituted and amended, 11 to 2, with Willett and Duncan voting no. doc

    Ordinance 260889 authorizes revenue bonds by the Missouri Development Finance Board of up to $537,000,000 for the stadium, team offices and supporting infrastructure. It passed as substituted, 11 to 2, with Willett and Duncan voting no; an amendment Duncan moved to its Section 5 failed. doc

  13. Construction is targeted to begin

    The Royals are targeting May 2027 to break ground, if the rezoning, a TIF plan and state funding come through. The Council passed the rezoning and the TIF plan on October 8, 2026. No date is fixed.

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    As KSHB reported in September 2026, demolition at the site was expected to begin in January 2027, with a targeted first pitch at the new stadium in March 2030. ref

    As of that report, the state had not yet received an application for Show-Me Sports Investment Act funding for the project, according to Governor Mike Kehoe's office. ref

    Early construction phases are expected to include large-scale demolition, mass excavation and utility relocation, followed by foundation and structural-steel work; the project is estimated to support about 20,000 construction jobs. ref

    The site plan leverages roughly 9,000 existing parking spaces and lies near Kansas City's Main Street streetcar line. ref

  14. The public vote

    The next available city election. The date is not yet certified.

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    Missouri Workers Power's request would put its proposed voter-approval ordinance before voters at the city's April 2027 municipal election, the next election available after the council's 60-day deadline passed. ref

    KSHB reported that the vote's effect on the project's construction timeline remained unclear as of its report, since the council had already approved the stadium funding ordinance in August 2026. ref