Will the stadium fit?
A new potential downtown ballpark site has emerged, with the Royals now reportedly considering a site next to Union Station where Washington Square Park is currently located. A team of local developers has already begun drawing up renderings of how a stadium in that site would look in relation to the rest of downtown. The team, assembled by 3D Development, has produced unofficial renderings and a site touting the location - welovekcbaseball.com.
There is no indication the Royals are involved with these renderings, but there are certainly some local developers that want this to happen. These are still pretty rudimentary renderings, designed more to show how the stadium would interact with the surrounding development rather than to reveal all the amenities the stadium itself would incorporate. The renderings include the iconic Crown Vision, but not fountains, but those are details that would be worked out once an official rendering is produced.
According to the Kansas City Business Journal, the site could connect to surrounding developments.
Wullschleger said a potential “road diet,” removing some of Grand Boulevard’s multiple lanes to the east, could further increase the site’s footprint. The proposal also includes a pedestrian bridge, connecting a ballpark north across railroad tracks to the Crossroads, where the Royals could pursue a mixed-use ballpark district on properties within 3D’s planned Freight House Village area.
The developers highlight the upsides of the site, including abundant parking in the area, highway access, and proximity to the streetcar route. They claim 18,903 parking spots currently within four blocks of the site, with the streetcar able to accommodate 5-7,000 fans. The site is near nine existing highway connections, and would not displace any businesses, as the soon-to-be vacated Blue Cross and Blue Shield building would be the only one demolished for the project. A stadium could also be a boon for surrounding businesses - the developers claim there are 10.5 million square feet of office space, 3,000 residential units, 1,770 hotel rooms, and 150 retailers surrounding the site.
They also claim a stadium on this site could be cheaper than the proposed stadium in the Crossroads, due to less land assemblage.
Voters rejected a proposed stadium located in the Crossroads at the site of the Kansas City Star building back in April. Mayor Quinton Lucas recently indicated that the city has continued to have productive talks with the Royals to move them downtown, and may not include authorities with Jackson County or a public vote in the next proposal.
