Feb

13

Rough start for P&L District

February 13, 2008 | 5 Comments

Last week the Star and Business Journal had front page pieces on more delays for the Power & Light District.  City official were surprised when it didn’t open along with Sprint Center last year, and now the Cordish company is saying that most businesses still won’t be open when the Big 12 tournament comes to town next month.

Today comes the news that the city will spend  up to $8 million in taxpayers’ money to make payments on the debt that financed construction of the district. Eventually the district is supposed to make enough money to payoff its own debt, but in the beginning the city is subsidizing it.

Both problems go back to the original agreements between Cordish and Mayor Barnes and the old City Council.   The terms of the deal give Cordish until the end of 2008 to finish construction, and they put the city on the hook to cover any deficits if the project loses money. That last one is important because the P&L District is projected to have a miniscule 4% profit margin.

So, while the district is certainly a key piece of the city’s redevelopment, the terms of the deal mean that the city is taking a huge risk and has very little margin of error. Think happy thoughts and go buy lots of steak from Ted Turner.


Comments

5 Comments so far

  1. funkfan on February 13, 2008 10:53 am

    We told them. They didn’t listen. They bashed Funkhouser for “being negative” about P&L. Now they’re going to blame him for it losing money. The people of Kansas City are idiots.

  2. Tim on February 13, 2008 10:31 pm

    I wouldn’t be so sure it’s going to lose money. Without the entertainment district and Sprint Center, nothing would be happening downtown, it would still look like a third world war zone, and the city would continue in a downward spiral. Sure, I wish everything was open already, but I still think it was necessary. People need to think about the long term. Think what it means to us over decades, not months. The people who constantly put their own city down need to travel more. People in other cities brag about what they have, and it does a lot to improve their images around the country if not the world. Let’s be proud of what we’re trying to do to make our city viable well into the future.

  3. M on February 14, 2008 9:36 am

    Actually, there was plenty going on downtown before the Power and Light District. There was (and still is) The Lyric, The Folly, The Music Hall, Quality Hill, and more recently, the KC Rep. It’s just that without somewhere to eat, people would go to these venues and then go back home.

    The only reason it has looked like a “war zone” downtown is because of all the construction. Which will be done eventually.

  4. JB on February 14, 2008 10:09 am

    I made it downtown this weekend for a show and the area has a long way to go to win me over. At least they’re trying.

  5. Tim on February 14, 2008 3:25 pm

    Having all that variety downtown is also a huge selling point for convention business. Downtown was filled with abandoned, decaying buildings before this project, and a really scary ghost town after dark.

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