Why KC Royals’ John Sherman is making the rounds to Crossroads District businesses

The Kansas City Royals have selected the Crossroads District as the location for their proposed new stadium, pending approval in April from voters in Jackson County.

The vibrant area sits in the heart of downtown and will connect the Royals to the central hub of Kansas City.

The new stadium would be adjacent to the T-Mobile Center. Fans would have easy access to the Kauffman Center and Power & Light, 18th & Vine and Crossroads Entertainment and Arts districts.

The Royals released renderings of the stadium they envision last week. With passage on the ballot, the stadium would be accompanied by an adjacent entertainment district.

Jackson County residents are set to vote April 2 on whether to extend the county’s 3/8th-cent sales tax for another 40 years. Revenue generated by the tax would pay a portion of the costs for the Royals’ new stadium as well as major renovations to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

As voters contemplate the ballot measure, Royals owner John Sherman and his team are working to finalize community benefits agreements and lease terms. He remains hopeful the process can be completed “well in advance” of election day.

Sherman said he plans to visit with Crossroads business owners, including those who are facing relocation. The Royals say they want to listen to all concerns about the project and provide further details.

“We expect to come to an agreement with all the property owners,” Sherman said Monday at the Royals’ training complex in Surprise, Arizona. “We have been meeting with property owners — meeting with them today and meeting with them tomorrow.

“I think we have a pretty good handle on that. … Because of the suddenness in some cases, we are trying to listen, have empathy and try to help them in their transition.”

The proposed stadium would border Grand Boulevard on the west, 17th Street to the south, Locust Street to the east and Truman Road on the north. It would occupy land where the former Kansas City Star press pavilion currently sits, just inside the south loop at 1601 McGee St.

There are 29 parcels of property, with 26 separate owners, that would be affected within a six-block area. While some of those property owners would sell, others would prefer to stay.

“We really couldn’t say a lot before and so I have empathy for that,” Sherman said. “(We’re) just trying to spend some time with them and make sure everyone knows we want to be helpful — and that this is a great thing for Kansas City and the community. And that we love that location.”

KC Tenants, a citywide renter’s union, is among those who have made their concerns known. The group questions the proposed stadium and entertainment district’s benefits to the community, and whether it will lead to higher rents and/or gentrification in the area.

“The proposed sales tax to fund the stadium would cost our neighbors $50 million each year for 40 years. That’s about $167 per household, per year, all to pay for a playground for the wealthy and for tourists,” KC Tenants said in a statement.

“This tax revenue, plus a future incentive deal with the city which would redirect money from our schools and other services, would be among the largest transfers of public money to private corporations in our region’s history.”

Opinions from Crossroads District business owners vary.

“This is an arts district,” said Sasha Santillan, owner of Duet, a gift shop and studio space that houses four woman-owned businesses at 517 E. 18th St. “Arts-related businesses literally get tax breaks for being here. A big stadium would shift the community identity in a way that I think would be a shame.”

Sherman said he understands such concerns and hopes to provide more clarity.

“For the most part, I think they want to be heard,” Sherman said of the property owners. “They want to understand what our objectives are, our commitment to how we fit in the neighborhood and how supportive of the neighborhood as well.

There’s owners and there are tenants and there are some challenges. Like I said, I wish we could’ve been out there early, and I have great empathy for people’s businesses that are going to be disrupted. We want to work with the landlords and owners to try to help them through that transition.”

The Royals estimate that the overall cost of the stadium and entertainment project will be around $2 billion. The stadium would account for about $1 billion of that total, and the Royals have said they will invest more than $1 billion.

After that, it’s up to the voters. Early voting is already underway for overseas members of the military. Absentee voting begins Tuesday, and then comes the April 2 election.

“I plan to be out in the community,” Sherman said. “The campaign team is meeting every day. We are meeting with the Chiefs and so we want to get both teams kind of amped up.

“The campaign has a couple of facets that is the core, Kansas City, Missouri. There is Eastern Jackson County, which has a little different of a calculus, and we want to be sure to get to all those areas.”

The Star’s Sam McDowell, Mike Hendricks and David Hudnall contributed to this report.