Kansas City approves up to $185 million for KC Current riverfront project

Kansas City Council approved a financing and development framework Thursday, September 10, allowing the city manager to pursue financing totaling no more than $185 million for the KC Current’s CPKC Stadium expansion and related Berkley Riverfront projects.

Ordinance 260748 passed as substituted. The vote authorizes a development agreement and future financing agreements; it does not represent an immediate $185 million city payment or the final issuance of debt.

What the ordinance covers

The authorized project includes expanding CPKC Stadium, developing a mixed-use district, building transient parking structures and completing other core infrastructure in and around Berkley Riverfront Park.

The ordinance also covers Lydia Avenue improvements, stormwater-related work and other infrastructure tied to the development. KSHB reported that the broader project description includes a stadium capacity of more than 18,000 and about 1,500 additional parking spaces. Those figures describe the planned project and should not be read as proof that every component is already funded or under construction.

The city manager is authorized to pursue financing connected to a state supplemental tax increment financing plan and/or a development plan under the Missouri Downtown and Rural Economic Stimulus Act, known as MODESA. The ordinance also allows related applications and agreements, subject to the approvals required under those programs.

How the city’s financial exposure is structured

The ordinance allows redirected revenues connected to approved project plans to support financing. It also contemplates an annual city appropriation pledge for debt service on as much as $185 million in debt issued by a third party or otherwise obtained by the developer.

That potential backstop is conditional. The ordinance requires the city’s credit rating to be protected, a third-party feasibility study to show at least 1.10 times coverage of average annual debt service, and a renewable bank letter of credit equal to 1.10 times average annual debt service.

The financing must also include a special assessment or another recovery mechanism if the letter of credit is not sufficient to cover a cash-flow shortage. The development agreement must include cash-flow shortfall coverage guarantees from the developer.

These provisions are safeguards, not proof that the project cannot experience a shortfall. They also preserve a distinction between redirected project revenues, developer obligations and any future city budget obligation under an appropriation pledge. The ordinance contemplates a possible city appropriation commitment, subject to its stated conditions, rather than eliminating public financial exposure.

Immediate spending and trail requirement

Kansas City appropriated $150,000 from the Development Services Fund for the third-party feasibility study and related economic, financial, bond-advisory and legal services.

The future development agreement must also include considerations for workers during construction and stadium operations.

A Riverfront Trail connection from Current Landing to Riverfront Park at 1700 Monroe Ave. is a minimum project element. The ordinance says the trail will be constructed in coordination with Kansas City, the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners and Port KC, with funding to be identified in a future financing agreement. It does not establish a completed construction schedule or an identified funding source for the trail.

What happens next

City officials must complete the development and financing agreements, conduct the third-party feasibility work and pursue any required TIF, MODESA, state or related approvals. Agreements that materially depart from the approved development agreement or the ordinance may require additional City Council review.

For Kansas City residents, taxpayers, workers and businesses near Berkley Riverfront, the next accountability question is whether projected revenues, developer guarantees and other protections hold as the project moves from authorization to final financing and construction.

Sources

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