KC Star Press Pavilion owner looks at options other than a stadium
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tony Privitera co-owns the old Kansas City Star Press Pavilion building with his sister Rosana and his brothers Carl and Joe.
The Royals planned to build their new stadium at that site, just northeast of 17th and McGee.
Now that the April 2 Jackson County stadium sales tax vote has failed, there’s no word what the team’s going to do though.
“I do wholeheartedly believe that the Crossroads is the right location for the Royals. Now maybe the process on picking that location was a little unorthodox. It might need some tweaking, but I do believe it’s still the right location for them,” Privitera said in an interview with FOX4 Friday. “I have to move and do things and do things fiduciary for the building and for the ownership group, but I do feel like it was the right location.”
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One of those fiduciary things may be moving past thinking a stadium will go in there. Privitera told us he’s talking to Patmos about putting a data center into that lot.
Privitera says a Royals stadium going in the East Crossroads would have been a huge help to the South Loop project going in over I-670.
“So whichever direction we go with the building, whether the building comes down, and a stadium goes there, or we put a data center there, or we do an entertainment venue, the South Loop is what our downtown needs,” he continued.
Wednesday of last week, Mayor Quinton Lucas said different groups were frustrated that more progress hadn’t been reached to find out where the Royals and Chiefs will be long term. That was just a day after a rendering came out envisioning what a new Chiefs stadium could look like in Kansas City, Kansas. The team though, was not involved in the release.
Lucas also said the city will try to make sure appropriate deals get done for the Chiefs and the Royals.
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“Kansas City will continue to be in the competition. We have never stopped having conversations. We’re not waiting on anybody to call us or to find the right time. We’ll continue to work hard to make sure these teams stay here for years to come,” he continued.
The Chiefs and the Royals wouldn’t comment on this story. Privitera said he’ll have a better idea in the next couple of weeks what the future is of the old Star Press Pavilion.
The state budget does not include “new stadium” funding as the local ballot item did not pass, according to Seth Bundy with the Senate Democratic Caucus. The budget does include $5 million to improve the riverfront near Kansas City Current’s new stadium and $17.5 million to prepare for the 2026 World Cup in Kansas City.
