Kemper Arena Replacement Must Be A Priority

By James Dornbrook

The quest to replace Kemper Arena is like a duck on a pond moving quietly forward on the surface, with turbulent paddling going on underneath.

It's been a year-and-a-half since the American Royal and the Kemper family released a proposal to raze Kansas City's Kemper Arena and replace it with a 5,000-seat Agricultural Events Center that better fits the needs of the American Royal and agricultural-related events. But there is still no signed agreement in place, no memorandum of understanding on how to move forward.

Behind the scenes is the American Royal, which is tirelessly negotiating, quietly raising money, constantly strengthening its case and rallying supporters to its cause.

The strongest point of the American Royal's debate is that the city continues to pump millions of dollars into upkeep of Kemper Arena, which languishes in relative obscurity. Its busiest tenant right now is the Kansas City Renegades, a Champions Professional Indoor Football League team with six home games.

"Kemper Arena is no longer the facility it was when it was leased to us, primarily because of the construction of the Sprint Center downtown," said Brant Laue, chairman of the board of governors for the American Royal. "Everyone recognizes that. There frankly are not too many people using Kemper Arena anymore aside from us, and it's not well suited to our needs."

Mariner Kemper, son of Kemper Arena's namesake R. Crosby Kemper Jr., said most people don't remember or understand that the original designs for the arena were focused specifically on use by the American Royal. But as the process went along, the city decided it needed a multipurpose arena to attract sports and other events, and it was redesigned.

"People forget that," Kemper said. "And while the arena isn't always full for an American Royal event, it isn't because the American Royal isn't doing well. It's full at the level a similar event would be at in another city."

Kemper argued that it's better for the city to pump current maintenance dollars into a new venue that would boost the American Royal and help attract more events to the city. He said the American Royal commissioned a study that shows hundreds of agricultural events throughout the country not only looking for new facilities that are more conducive than a multipurpose arena, but for venues closer to home. Most venues fitting their needs are on the East Coast, not smack dab in the middle of the United States like Kansas City.

"I think it's a real opportunity to breathe life into the American Royal and capture events around the country that are going elsewhere today, because the Kemper and its surrounding buildings aren't conducive in a way that they could be if they were designed specifically for agricultural-related events," Kemper said. "People tend to forget just how huge the American Royal is for this city. It has as much economic impact as the Major League Baseball All-Star Game did last year, and they do it every year."

Laue said the time to act is sooner rather than later because Kemper Arena continues to deteriorate. He understands that Kansas City is working on other projects — such as a streetcar, a 1,000-room hotel, sewer improvements, etc. — but he says Kemper Arena also needs to be on the list of priorities for the city.

"Everybody acknowledges that Kemper Arena is problematic, so our view is that now is the time to act," Laue said. "If not now, when? If not this, what? So we're charging forward."

Kemper Arena Replacement Would Give American Royal Complex A $15M Boost

By James Dornbrook
Replacing Kemper Arena with a new building would boost the economic impact of the American Royal complex by an estimated $14.9 million, according to an economic study conducted by the American Royal Board of Governors.
The study showed that the current footprint of the American Royal Complex generated about $60 million a year in economic benefit. Combined with a new arena, the complex would have a $75 million impact.
“We are pleased to confirm that plans are moving forward to make this a reality as we continue our private fundraising initiative and also our ongoing negotiations with the City of Kansas City,” Brant Laue, outgoing chairman of the Board of Directors and incoming 2012 Chairman of the Board of Governors, said in a release.
The American Royal Association is a not-for-profit corporation that has been in Kansas City since 1899. Each year more than 270,000 people attend events at the American Royal Complex, supporting 450 jobs. In 2012, the Royal was able to give $1.4 million in scholarship and educational awards.

Kemper Arena Might Be Getting Some New Neighbors

By Steve Vockrodt
The former Weld Wheel Industries Inc. property in the West Bottoms sold, with its new owner eyeing a 200-unit apartment project there.
Interstate Underground Warehouse LLC, a storage and warehouse company owned by developer Wayne Reeder’s family, bought the 405,660-square-foot, four-building complex at Ninth and Mulberry streets in the West Bottoms on Friday.
Reeder, who was part of condominium development teams for The View in Downtown and Park Reserve near the new Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City headquarters, said he’s in the early stages of formulating a multifamily and commercial development that would represent an investment of between $30 million and $40 million.
The unnamed project would offer market-rate apartments.
“We’re looking for none of that cheap stuff,” Reeder said. “We want to do a nice job out there, similar to the quality we have at the Park Reserve and The View.”
Interstate Underground Warehouse bought the former Weld Wheel building for about $700,000.
It has been on the market for at least two years and was held by Valley Oaks Financial Corp., which originated the note on the property, and Pacific Western Bank in San Diego.
Pat Murfey and Kevin Tubbesing of Evergreen Real Estate Services LLC marketed the building.
The asking price on a listing put the four-building complex at $1.1 million.
If Reeder is successful, it would be one of the early comers for large-scale multifamily developments in the West Bottoms.
Gary Hassenflu, president of Garrison Development, is pursuing an $18 million, 100-unit affordable-rate apartment project at 925 and 937 Wyoming Streets.

Kansas City's CPIFL Team Will Be Called The Renegades

Kansas City’s new professional indoor football team will be called the Renegades, the team announced today.
The team will play in the Champions Professional Indoor Football League, which includes teams from Wichita; Tulsa, Okla.; Sedalia, Mo.; and Sioux City, Iowa. The new team has taken over physical assets of the former Kansas City Command.
The Renegades will play in Kansas City's Kemper Arena for the 2013 season, competing with as many as 10 teams in the Champions Professional Indoor Football League.
General Manager Reggie Harris said last month that the league is not trying to become a national organization like the AFL.
“What we’re trying to do is create a league that is more accessible for fans and that has a financial situation that works,” Harris said.
He estimated that ticket prices would average $20 but could dip as low as $10.
The formal announcement came in a news conference with Harris, team owner Jeremy Ploeger, Head Coach Richard McCleskey, and players Tod Devoe, Victor Mann, and Carson Coffman.
Ploeger also founded sports management firm J&M Management and is vice chairman of the Jackson County Board of Planning & Zoning Adjustments.

New Indoor Football Team Introduces Itself To Kansas City

The Kansas City Command won’t take the field next season, but Kansas City arena football fans will get a new team in a new league.
A spokesman for the Command would say only that the team won’t play next season. The Command played in the Arena Football League.
The unnamed new team will play in the Champions Professional Indoor Football League, a newly created regional league that so far includes teams from Wichita; Tulsa, Okla.; Sedalia, Mo.; and Sioux City, Iowa. Two more teams are expected to be announced soon. The league could play with as many as 10 teams.
“We’re not trying to be a national organization like the AFL,” said Reggie Harris, general manager of the new Kansas City team. “What we’re trying to do is create a league that is more accessible for fans and that has a financial situation that works.”
Harris, who in 2005 was general manager of Command predecessor the Kansas City Brigade, said that average ticket prices for the new team will be about $20 but that fans will be able to see a game for as little as $10 a ticket.
“We want this to be very affordable for families,” Harris said. “You can go see a game for about as much as it would cost to go to a movie.”
The new team will play at Kemper Arena, which with 17,000 seats will be the league’s largest arena. The 12-week season will start in late February; the playoffs will end by July 1.
The Kansas City team is owned by Jeremy Ploeger, who is founder of sports management firm J&M Management, vice chairman of the Jackson County Board of Planning & Zoning Adjustments and a former candidate for the Missouri House of Representatives in the 51st District.
The Brigade went out of business when the AFL reorganized at the end of the 2009 season. The AFL returned in 2010; the Kansas City team — which became the Command — returned for the 2011 season.
The new team already announced several players:

• Carson Coffman will play quarterback. A Kansas State Wildcat from 2006 to 2010, he threw for 3,224 yards and 17 touchdowns, running for 278 yards and 12 touchdowns. Last year, he played for the Utah Blaze in the Arena Football League. He’s the son of Paul Coffman, a three-time Pro Bowl tight end who played for the Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings.
• Diyral Briggs will play linebacker. Briggs has NFL experience playing for the San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers, where he won a Super Bowl ring. Last season, he played for the Kansas City Command.
• Cornelius “Pig” Brown played for the University of Missouri and was a third-round draft pick for the Kansas City Chiefs. Last season, he played in the Indoor Football League for the River City Rage and the Omaha Beef.
• O.J. Simpson played wide receiver for Missouri Western State University. He spent last season with the Kansas City Command.

• Tommy Chavis will play defensive line. He played college football for the University of Missouri and earned Big 12 Honorable Mention in 2007. He played for the Kansas City Command in 2012; the year before, he led the Indoor Football League with 16.5 sacks in 11 games.

Kemper Arena's End Getting Closer

Kansas City is moving toward taking over management of Kemper Arena, a signal that the aging West Bottoms facility may be approaching the end of its useful life.
The Kansas City Finance, Governance and Ethics Committee approved an ordinance Wednesday to terminate its management agreement with Anschutz Entertainment Group on June 30, six months ahead of schedule. The measure will go before the full Kansas City Council on Thursday.
If it passes, Kansas City would self-manage Kemper Arena and the American Royal Complex, saving an estimated $500,000.
Kansas City’s five-year management contract with AEG is set to expire Dec. 31.
Kemper Arena was supposed to become the preferred locale for livestock and other so-called dirt events, such as truck rallies, when plans for the Sprint Center arena were announced.
But Kemper Arena has struggled to fill its calendar, with most promoters preferring to stage their events at Sprint Center.
It has made the arena a budgetary black hole for Kansas City, with the city spending between $1 million and $2 million a year because of Kemper’s failure to generate a profit since Sprint Center opened.
Kansas City issued bonds in 1997 to renovate and spruce up Kemper Arena in an economic development play that has fallen flat.
In voting to recommend the termination of AEG’s management agreement, Kansas City Mayor Pro Tem Cindy Circo said that the city didn’t address reality with Kemper Arena’s past and that the current council is doing that now.
“This is all positive,” Circo said. “We can look back and point fingers ... but that’s not constructive.”
Kansas City Councilman John Sharp was critical of the city’s past decisions regarding Kemper Arena at Wednesday’s committee meeting.
“I disagree with the mayor pro tem (Circo) that it’s not constructive to look back,” Sharp said.
A backdrop to the Kemper Arena discussion is that the facility’s namesake family is looking to tear it down in favor of an upgraded American Royal Complex that would include a new livestock events center.
Mariner Kemper, chairman and CEO of UMB Financial Corp., said in May that a study found the proposal would generate a $75 million annual economic benefit.
So far, the Kansas City Council hasn’t weighed in on the $60 million proposal.

James Clark, former owner of KC Knights pleads guilty to tax evasion

The former owner of the Kansas City Knights professional basketball team pleaded guilty Wednesday in Kansas to tax evasion and bank fraud.
The U.S. Attorney's office says 52-year-old James Clark, of Overland Park, entered the pleas Wednesday in federal court in Kansas City, Kan.
Clark admitted withholding more than $500,000 in payroll taxes from employees of his company, SWISH Holding Corp., but failing to pay the money to the Internal Revenue Service. He used the money for other purposes, including operation of the basketball team.
Clark also admitted submitting false information to a bank in May 2004 while trying to obtain a line of credit from UMB Bank worth more than $1 million. Personally guaranteeing the loan, he provided documents overstating the value of the basketball franchise and misrepresenting that he held an ownership interest in the American Basketball Association, prosecutors said.
The bank issued nearly $1.4 million on that line of credit, but Clark made only one payment of $6,368.43.
A judge set sentencing for July 16.
The Knights were active in Kansas City in the first half of the last decade at Kemper Arena. The team won the American Basketball Association championship in 2002, finishing the season by winning 24 games in a row.

American Royal enlists experts on how to pay for Kemper Arena proposal

American Royal Association officials hired a team of public finance professionals to examine how to pay for a proposal to replace Kansas City’s aging Kemper Arena with a new Agricultural Events Center, the Kansas City Business Journal reports.
“Every past building project for the American Royal has been a public-private partnership with the city of Kansas City, and we look to continue that approach,” says Brant Laue, newly elected chairman of the board of directors.
The nonprofit’s annual board of governors meeting was this week. The American Royal has an agreement with Kansas City to use the Kemper Arena and other facilities through 2045.
On Oct. 25, American Royal officials announced the proposal to raze and replace the Kemper with a 5,000-seat coliseum and other new livestock facilities. However, the plan requires city approval.