KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – On the same day the Kansas City Royals announced plans for a new downtown ballpark, a newly formed task force held its first meeting Wednesday night to begin addressing what comes next for the land the teams will leave behind.
The Sports Complex Redevelopment Task Force convened at Union Station, tasked with determining the future of the nearly 400 acres of county-owned land at the Truman Sports Complex. Both the Royals and the Kansas City Chiefs are set to vacate the site when their leases expire in 2031.
Jackson County Executive Phil LeVota assembled 12 members with backgrounds spanning government, private development, tourism, construction, and sports and entertainment.
Among them is Robb Heineman, managing partner of EightNineTen Holdings, a private equity fund focused on sports and entertainment investment.
Heineman has deep roots in Kansas City development. In 2006, he purchased the Kansas City Wizards — now Sporting KC — from the late Lamar Hunt. His group went on to build Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas, transforming the franchise from a tenant at Arrowhead Stadium into a club that sold out year after year.
Jackson County Executive Phil LeVota said Wednesday the renderings shared weeks ago showing a racetrack at the old site of Arrowhead Stadium was not a realistic outcome.(Zach Fisher, KCTV5)
“I have always tried to do things like sports and entertainment as a catalyst to create larger developments,” Heineman said.
Heineman said he is bringing ideas to the table — but declined to share them on camera.
“I walk into this committee to say, how can I help make it great? And I think we do have some great ideas that can make it great,” he said.
When LeVota announced the task force in March, he released a set of AI-generated renderings depicting potential futures for the site — among them a hotel with pickleball courts, high-rise apartments, a shopping and dining district, and a horse racing track dubbed “Arrowhead Downs.”
The images were never intended as a serious blueprint, LeVota said Wednesday.
“I wanted to think big. So I wanted to give AI something — what could you be? They plugged everything in. They put pickleball in there, they put a gondola in there, all sorts of things. And then they put a horse track. I’ve got horses, so I thought that was funny. It was clearly nothing we were suggesting, but it was the visual to say think big — just not two big stadiums in the middle of 400 acres,” LeVota said.
Heineman knew not to take those images literally.
“Maybe some of those are a little far-fetched, but I think the Truman Sports Complex for the last 50 years has been a monument — not only in Kansas City, but in the country — around what sports can be and what it can do for a community,” he said. “I think we owe it to the community to continue that and figure out what the next version of it is.”
The task force meetings are not open to the public. LeVota said the group does not qualify as a public government entity under Missouri law.
“These are people I’ve invited to give me advice — a task force — and I want them to be able to share that advice without any sort of public scrutiny,” LeVota said. “There’s no bad idea. I want to make sure all the ideas are there without any public scrutiny, because they don’t have to worry about someone laughing them out of the park.”
LeVota said the public will have opportunities for input later in the process, including town hall meetings and the ability to watch and comment on sessions remotely.
“That doesn’t mean the public’s not involved,” he said.
The timeline
LeVota outlined the following process:
90 days: The task force meets to brainstorm and develop recommendationsOne week: The Urban Land Institute brings in national land-use experts for a deeper analysis and frameworkPublic input phase: Town hall meetings open to residentsRedevelopment commission: A formal commission will be appointed to guide implementation over the following four to five years
LeVota said he hopes to have a master plan concept in place by the end of fall 2026 — an ambitious target given the task force alone runs through late August.
“I’d like to have an idea of a type of master plan by the end of this fall,” LeVota said.
Heineman said the 90-day window is workable because many of the people in the room have already been thinking about the site’s potential.
“I think there are some ideas that have been germinating, kind of baking in the background, and now it’s how do we figure out how to step those forward,” he said.
Task force membersKatherine Holland, Chief Marketing Officer, Women Leaders in SportsTom Gerend, Executive Director, KC Streetcar AuthorityEileen Weir, Former Mayor, IndependenceKathleen (Katie) Steele Danner, Executive Director, Greater Missouri Leadership FoundationRobb Heineman, Managing Partner, EightNineTen HoldingsKathy Nelson, President & CEO, Visit KC and Greater Kansas City Sports Commission & FoundationBruce Miller, Global Chairman and CEO, PopulousJim Rowland, National Account Manager – Sports Tourism, Missouri Division of TourismTracey Lewis, President & CEO, Economic Development CorporationSteve Arbo, County Administrator, Jackson CountyBridgette Williams, Executive Director, Heavy Constructors Association of Greater Kansas CityMario Vasquez, City Manager, Kansas CityAdvisory committee
The task force is also supported by an advisory committee of elected officials and civic leaders:
Jackson County Legislators Vanessa Huskey and Donna PeytonMayor Quinton Lucas, Kansas CityKansas City Council Members Melissa Robinson and Melissa Patterson-HazleyTim Cowden, President, Kansas City Area Development CouncilMayor Mike McDonough, RaytownMayor Kevin King, Independence
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