A joint venture of Mortenson and McCownGordon has been named construction manager at risk by Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals for the team’s planned new $1.9 billion stadium at the Crown Center in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
Kansas City, Mo.-based JE Dunn will oversee the development of an 85-acre, $3 billion mixed-use development surrounding the ballpark, an open-air venue expected to span 1.25 million square feet and have approximately 34,000 seats, including multiple premium experience levels, within a narrow urban footprint that connects to the surrounding district.
“Challenging sites always have the opportunity to create exceptional sports venues,” Mortenson Campus Director Greg Huber said in an email to ENR. “One of the most interesting challenges will be building a major league stadium within a tight, active urban environment.”
He added that the project “requires careful planning to safely carry out site enabling activities such as demolition and excavation, along with all the vertical construction that will follow. It’s the kind of complexity that requires thoughtful sequencing and close collaboration across the community from day one.”
Mortenson and McCown Gordon will also partner with Parson + Associates, a Kansas City-based community engagement firm that will join the project team as a communications lead, coordinating outreach with Kansas City stakeholders, neighborhood organizations and local business partners, Huber said.
“His role is focused on helping the team authentically engage with the community and create meaningful opportunities for Kansas City businesses, business partners and workers, ensuring the project’s impact extends far beyond the field itself,” says Huber.
Construction on the stadium is expected to begin in 2027 and be completed in time for Opening Day in 2030.
Both the Royals and the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League currently play at the Truman Sports Complex on the east side of Kansas City. The two teams’ leases with Jackson County, Missouri, which owns the complex, expire in 2031. Voters in March 2024 rejected a proposal to extend the current 3/8.th-cents in sales tax to help pay to demolish and replace 51-year-old Kauffman Stadium and to fund the renovation of its neighbor, Arrowhead Stadium.
Voters’ rejection of the sales tax extension sparked a bidding war between Missouri and neighboring Kansas. In June 2024, Missouri Governor Mark Kehoe signed the “Show-Me Sports Investment Act,” which authorized bonds to cover up to 50 percent of stadium costs and $50 million in tax credits for teams.
Funding for the Royals’ stadium isn’t entirely assured, however. The Missouri Supreme Court in early September heard oral arguments on the question of whether opponents of the state’s tax incentive plan have standing to file a lawsuit challenging it.
“We’re taking taxpayer money and using it to fund private entities,” Missouri state Sen. Mike Moon (R) told KCTV5 about his opposition to the tax incentives.
Legislation passed in Kansas in 2024 allows Kansas to use sales tax and revenue bonds for National Football League/Major League Baseball stadium projects of at least $1 billion, and allows for 70 percent state bond financing with repayment tied to projected tax revenue in the districts, which have not been identified, where the stadiums would be located.
The Chiefs chose to relocate to Kansas and plan to build a new $3 billion stadium in Wyandotte County, Kan.; a $300 million practice facility and headquarters in Olathe, Kan.; and $1.2 billion in private developments around the two projects.
MANICA is the main architect of the stadium planned by the Chiefs; HNTB is the architect of record and CAA ICON is the owner’s representative. No contractor has yet been named.
