The talks in both cities never went beyond initial conversations, officials say. Still, both Lenexa and Shawnee are now included in the Kansas Department of Commerce\u2019s preliminary STAR (Sales Tax and Revenue) bond district.<\/a><\/p>\n The area covers nearly 300 square miles, including all of Wyandotte County and nearly all of Olathe, with both Lenexa and Shawnee lying squarely in between. A proportion of future state sales tax revenues within the district\u2019s final boundaries will go to pay off the new $3 billion stadium and $1 billion headquarters building and training facility.<\/a><\/p>\n That means future state sales tax growth in Lenexa and Shawnee could be siphoned off to pay for the Chiefs project. That has caught some city officials by surprise.<\/p>\n \u201cI was very surprised to hear that Shawnee was included and in the area, and I received several emails from constituents stating that they were not happy about their taxes going to support it, as excited as I am about Kansas getting the Chiefs,\u201d Shawnee Councilmember Kurt Knappen said during Monday\u2019s city council meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cExtremely limited\u201d talks in Shawnee<\/p>\n Early on in the process of the Chiefs looking for a new location for its stadium and practice facility, both cities communicated with the team about possibly moving to their respective areas of Johnson County.<\/p>\n Conversations between representatives for the Chiefs and city leaders in Shawnee were \u201climited,\u201d said city spokesperson Doug Donahoo in an email to the Johnson County Post.<\/p>\n \u201cCity of Shawnee leaders did have some very initial conversations with the Kansas City Chiefs organization. The conversations were extremely limited and did not progress beyond the initial phase,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Two sites in Lenexa mentioned<\/p>\n In late 2024, Lenexa Mayor Julie Sayers and city staff met with representatives from the Chiefs to talk about potential locations for the stadium and practice facility, city spokesperson Denise Redina confirmed this week in an email to the Johnson County Post.<\/p>\n At the meeting, the city discussed two properties that could potentially be suitable for development:<\/p>\n the northwest or northeast corners of K-10 Highway and K-7 Highway \u201cThe City had no legal control of any of the locations that were discussed and had not previously discussed the idea with the owners thereof, so we weren\u2019t really \u2018pitching\u2019 anything, just having a discussion about properties that could potentially be suitable for such development,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n While Sayers kept in touch with the team, the discussions didn\u2019t materialize into an agreement between the two parties.<\/p>\n \u201cMayor Sayers reached out to the entire team of people we met with, including (Chiefs President Mark) Donovan, to see if any additional information was needed. Separate from Mayor Sayers\u2019 email to the group, a few emails were shared among some of the people who attended the meeting, but the idea was ultimately not further pursued by the Chiefs,\u201d Rendina said.<\/p>\n What the STAR bond districts means for both cities STAR bonds<\/a> are a financing tool that uses state sales tax revenues generated by a project to pay for development, usually a larger project.<\/p>\n The state sets a baseline for how much sales tax businesses within an established district generate, then redirects any sales tax over that determined baseline amount to pay off the bonds.<\/p>\n In other words, the STAR bonds won\u2019t directly raise taxes. Instead, a portion of future sales tax revenues collected from the project within the final STAR bond district will help pay back the bonds.<\/p>\n
\nand the northeast corner of K-10 Highway and South Ridgeview Road.<\/p>\n
\n![\"STAR](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/starbond_map.webp.webp\")
The state\u2019s preliminary STAR bond map, with Shawnee and Lenexa the two areas outlined in the middle, between Wyandotte County to the north and Olathe to the south. Image courtesy Kansas Department of Commerce.<\/p>\n
![\"Part](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Monticello-Road-closured-Mill-Valley.webp.webp\")
Part of Monticello Road near Mill Valley High, Monticello Trails Middle and Clear Creek Elementary is fully closed for a few weeks for construction. File photo.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/020824-Chiefs-03.jpg\")
Travis Kelce (87) and Patrick Mahomes (15) inflatables along with a skeleton statue stand outside of a home off of Nieman and 51st Terrace in Shawnee, last winter. File photo.<\/p>\n