Wizards Stadium Plan A Reality

The Kansas City Wizards soccer team will soon have an 18,000-seat stadium to call home thanks to an agreement between Wyandotte County officials and the Kansas Unified Development partnership.

The project, in the works since last spring, was approved Jan. 19 during a special meeting of the county’s Unified Board of Commissioners.

The $400 million development under construction includes the $165 million stadium, an outdoor event center, 18-24 tournament-quality fields and an office complex, according to the Kansas City Business Journal.

Tim Weaver of Lane4 Property Group, partnered with Wizards ownership group OnGoal, said the facility fills a niche in the Kansas City metro area and the region.

“This is a remarkable project in that it brings a state-of-the-art stadium to an area already rich with retail, hospitality and entertainment amenities,” Weaver told Pollstar. “With access to one-and-a-half million residents in a 25-minute drive, there was a built-in base for large crowds.

“The stadium design is cutting-edge, focused on the fan experience from the free, adjacent parking through the final buzzer or encore.”

Funding for the stadium, which will also be used for concerts and other events, and the outdoor event center will reportedly come from $147 million in state sales tax revenue bonds as well as private investment, the paper said.

The stadium is expected to be completed by mid-2011 but no later than 2012 per the agreement, according to the Journal.

If the project pulls through, it could be competition for the 18,000-capacity Capitol Federal Park at Sandstone amphitheatre in Bonner Springs, about 25 minutes from Kansas City.