KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Royals owner John Sherman said during a press conference on Tuesday, he wants the stadium to be in a place with meaningful community impact and economic growth that benefits the region.
One of those places could be downtown Kansas City.
Businesses owners told KSHB 41 News it would be a home run having the Royals be their neighbors.
"Being a downtown resident for 15 years and a downtown business owner we just couldn’t be more excited," Dan Walsh, Owner of Spoke Cafe and Cyclery said. "Anytime something happens in town, it increased our business, so when you’re talking 81 dates plus of course post season we can be very excited about the traffic that that could potentially produce downtown for us."
The excitement flows down Main Street to another business, Taps on Main.
"It’s always been there that it’s a possibility but it’s certainly it’s exciting now that it’s being talked about more and just to be able to walk to a stadium from Taps on Main, I can’t even put into words what that would mean to us," Grant Tower, owner of Taps on Main said.
In 2020, a Kansas City-based development group Pendulum, proposed an idea of the downtown stadium.
The group proposed it being located at 10th and Cherry spanning to 71 Highway. Right now the area consists of a few buildings and parking lots.
The Royals lease ends at the Truman Sports Complex after the 2030 season.
The owner of Pendulum sent KSHB 41 News this statement:
“Change is often frowned upon, but progress is endearing. Over the last ten years there have been several relevant examples of sports facility (specifically baseball) developments that have resulted in economic growth for the region and enhanced quality of life for the surrounding areas. While Camden Yards in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor was the design standard for a new era of ballpark development in 1992, Truist Park within the Battery Development in Cobb County, GA has set the tone for a targeted live/work/play environment that makes the kind of community impact and enhanced quality of life that I think Mr. Sherman was referring to in his comments today. As such we see similar redevelopment in St. Louis around the Ballpark Village project that will foster that same positive impact for residents and patrons of the district.
At a much smaller scale, we even see this focus on economic redevelopment in places such as Gastonia, NC, a suburb of Charlotte, NC. Here, Pendulum just completed a 5,000-capacity ballpark with an emphasis on $100M in development that will share the same footprint.
What resonates with me most about Mr. Sherman’s comments today is that his vision for impacting more than just a very narrow band of citizens in the Kansas City region demonstrates business savvy and authenticity. Although he did not commit to a move or even a specific location if a move were to happen, a downtown ballpark in my opinion is a step in the right direction of progress.”
During the announcement on Tuesday, Sherman didn't specify a specific location of where the stadium would be downtown.
