{"id":90332,"date":"2025-05-30T09:58:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T09:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/90332\/"},"modified":"2025-05-30T09:58:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T09:58:12","slug":"exploring-what-royals-affiliated-groups-investment-in-aspiria-means","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/90332\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring what Royals-affiliated group\u2019s investment in Aspiria means"},"content":{"rendered":"

KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan\u00a0covers\u00a0politics\u00a0on both sides of the state line. If you have a story idea to share, you can send Charlie an email at\u00a0charlie.keegan@kshb.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Speculation about the Kansas City Royals building a new stadium in Overland Park, Kansas, got new life Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The team announced a group affiliated with the Royals purchased the mortgage on Aspiria<\/a>, the former Sprint world headquarters near 119th Street and Nall in Overland Park.<\/p>\n

Exploring what Royals-affiliated group\u2019s investment in Aspiria means for future stadium<\/p>\n

This means the group essentially acts as the bank for Occidental Management, the group which operates the Aspiria campus, according to Ryan Schulteis of Reece Commercial Real Estate<\/a>, who is not involved in the deal.<\/p>\n

Occidental Management declined to comment on the mortgage sale. <\/p>\n

\"Aspiria<\/p>\n

Charlie Keegan\/KSHB<\/p>\n

A new sign marks the entrance to the Aspiria campus at 119th Street and Nall Avenue in Overland Park, Kan.<\/p>\n

Schulteis said it\u2019s common for mortgages to sell. He sees three reasons why the Royals-affiliated group might want to own this mortgage: it better positions the team to build a new stadium at the site, it creates leverage in negotiating with Missouri on stadium financing options, or the group might just think it\u2019s a worthwhile investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s room to build a stadium if you wanted to,\u201d Schulteis said of the site. \u201cYou still have to figure out parking and traffic. I think it could have some potential for the Royals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/p>\n

Dale Messing\/KSHB<\/p>\n

Ryan Schulteis of Reece Commercial Real Estate.<\/p>\n

The Kansas Department of Commerce has permission to negotiate a public financing deal to pay for up to 70% of a new Royals stadium using STAR bonds. A spokesperson wouldn\u2019t say how the mortgage sale affects those negotiations.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause all major economic development projects require discretion and confidentiality, the department will not disclose any details regarding the activity surrounding negotiations or future agreements.\u201d<\/p>\n

In April, the state and city announced tech giant Fiserv was placing 2,000 employees<\/a> at Aspiria, occupying two buildings.<\/p>\n

A Fiserv spokesperson said the company\u2019s aware of the mortgage sale, but wouldn\u2019t comment how the change impacts its plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to work with Occidental and have no comment on speculation of what may happen at a later date.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schulteis believes there\u2019s room for a stadium and corporate offices at the site.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would want to have my offices close to the stadium because I think that would be a good draw for future employees,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Blue Chip Cookies<\/a> across Nall Avenue from the Aspiria site thinks a new stadium could be a draw.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would kind of help us out from the business side of things; getting more orders, having more people find our name,\u201d Brooke Fisher said.<\/p>\n

\"Brooke<\/p>\n

Dale Messing\/KSHB<\/p>\n

Brooke Fisher of Blue Chip Cookies.<\/p>\n

Some of Fisher\u2019s youngest customers from the neighborhood like the idea of the Royals moving to Overland Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be a lot easier to go to games,\u201d said Eli, 10.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would go there lots more,\u201d added his brother, Hayes, 8.<\/p>\n

\"Eli<\/p>\n

Dale Messing\/KSHB<\/p>\n

Brothers Eli and Hayes are fans of the Royals.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson from Overland Park wouldn\u2019t comment on the specifics of the mortgage sale.<\/p>\n

“Overland Park is supportive of our hometown teams,” the city spokesperson said. “We know the Chiefs and Royals belong in the Kansas City region and will do everything in our power to keep them here.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan\u00a0covers\u00a0politics\u00a0on both sides of the state line. If you have a story idea to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[24252,24253,24254,24255,5190,7,24256,805,118,24251,24257],"class_list":{"0":"post-90332","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-aspiria","9":"tag-blue-chip-cookies","10":"tag-brooke-fisher","11":"tag-charlie-keegan","12":"tag-eli","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-hayes","15":"tag-kansas","16":"tag-kansas-city","17":"tag-kansas-city-news","18":"tag-leawood"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114596197468661520","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}