American Royal looks to hone STAR bond request for $350M headquarters in KCK

KANSAS CITY, KS. (August 24, 2023) The American Royal Association is working to refresh its development and incentive terms with Kansas and the Unified Government after getting back in the saddle this year on plans for a new $350 million headquarters.

The 124-year-old organization, which champions food and agriculture, in March revised final plans, netted rezoning approval and started moving dirt to ready its 127-acre site at the intersection of State Avenue and 118th Street. The discussion about years-old development and incentive terms comes as vertical construction could start later in the fall.

UG commissioners last week approved a resolution of intent to issue as much as $250 million in bonds to support a sales tax exemption on construction materials. The measure gives the organization and UG until the end of March 2024 to amend development and cost funding agreements that date to 2017. The American Royal also must win approval for a new sales tax revenue (STAR) bond project plan by that deadline, after a new feasibility study from the Kansas Department of Commerce.

American Royal President Jackie McClaskey said this week that the organization hopes to complete those approvals by year's end. Her group and Commerce Department officials are working on new visitor and spending estimates for the STAR bonds, she said. The bonds help finance projects considered major entertainment and tourism attractions, then are paid off using local and sales tax revenues from the new development. The American Royal's project terms initially contemplated $80 million in STAR bonds.

"We do believe that we can support more (in STAR bonds) than what was originally approved in 2017, but there has not been a number agreed upon yet," McClaskey said.

The American Royal's complex will include an approximately 390,000-square-foot barn and exhibition space; a pair of indoor arenas, at 93,400 and 124,600 square feet; a 77,400-square-foot learning and engagement center; and a concert lawn and parking areas for RVs and trailers. The American Royal owns an additional 77 acres to the west that could become festival grounds as part of a second phase.

McClaskey said her organization plans to sequence the project, starting with the barn, so that it could start hosting events, even if other components take longer to build. The three arenas and learning center would follow, with the full development's completion targeted for late 2025. The American Royal could hold public meetings in the fall to share more details ahead of its vertical construction.

"Since we didn't have to go back and (redo) our preliminary development plan, it's been a long time since we've held any kind of public or neighborhood meeting, so we will be working as much as we can to get information out there as we move along through the fall," McClaskey said.

Last fall, the American Royal met an initial $80 million fundraising goal and since April has worked to raise additional private money. The group also looks to start offering its new complex for 2026 event rentals in January, contingent on keeping the timeline on track, McClaskey said. The complex could support third-party events such as national and world championships, consumer trade shows, conferences, and sporting and corporate events, on top of American Royal events. Nearly 100 parties already have expressed interest.

"We've been talking about this for a long time, so people are very positive to see dirt moving and to see us actually talking about set dates and when we're going to be going vertical," McClaskey said. "That's really the piece that's important for folks to understand now: The project is moving forward."

The American Royal's plans in KCK date to 2016, when it involved a smaller $160 million project with less exhibition space and two arenas. Its current 350,450-square-foot complex, leased from Kansas City in the West Bottoms, opened in 1992. The organization began discussions about a new headquarters in 2005.

Development team partners in the American Royal's complex include JE Dunn Construction as general contractor and Multistudio as architect.