With construction underway, Polsinelli Shughart PC Attorney Chase Simmons is lead counsel for a new development project in western Wyandotte County that will include the Kansas City Wizards’ new soccer complex and the new regional office for Cerner Corporation.
The development, generally considered the largest economic development project in the history of the state of Kansas, will include 600,000 square feet of office space, an 18,000-seat professional soccer stadium for the major league soccer team beginning with its 2012 season (see drawing below) and a national caliber youth athletics complex.
Simmons and other Polsinelli Shughart real estate attorneys also have been involved in the development of the Kansas International Speedway, Nebraska Furniture Mart, the Sprint Campus and the Overland Park Convention Center.
Simmons, a shareholder with Polsinelli Shughart, concentrates on large-scale redevelopment projects that require public financing. He frequently appears on behalf of his clients before municipal boards and councils in nearly every local jurisdiction. In addition to real estate zoning and his real estate practice, he is knowledgeable in tax increment financing, Corp of Engineers’ environmental approvals, and New Market Tax Credits.
Tell us more about these large transactions in western Wyandotte County.
These three transactions are really one project with 3 separate but related components. I was lead counsel for the development group that was composed of Lane 4, On Goal and Cerner Corporation. I assisted in developing the proposed public financing structure which mainly consisted of STAR Bonds and an employment tool called IMPACT. After that structure was designed, I assisted in negotiations at the state and local level and ultimately documented all of the agreements and approvals. Now we are working through a series of bond issuances.
We learned the Stadium project was selected as the “Wall Street Journal Deal of the Week.” What were some of the challenges of that particular transaction?
I think the biggest challenge was the fact that the three project components I mentioned before were all so inter-related. From both the developer’s standpoint and the State and local government standpoint, it was really an all or nothing deal. When you are talking about three different asset classes totaling almost a half a billion dollars in development, there are a lot of twists and turns especially in this economic environment. By necessity, the legal and financial structure we came up with tied all these assets together. However, the economic development tools, the analytical tools the government typically uses, and the historical form agreements were all based on looking at the different project components in “silos.” So breaking from the typical way of doing things was a challenge for everyone who worked on the project. There was no prototype to work from.
How did you get involved in this project to begin with?
We have long standing relationships with Lane 4 the developer and Oppenheimer the investment bankers that helped structure the initial proposal.
The project was highly visible in the media and the political community. How did that affect your work?
By most accounts this project represented the largest economic development project in the history of the State of Kansas so there was a lot of scrutiny. As I said before, it also had a unique structure which also led to scrutiny. And while everything we proposed was soundly grounded in the law, several discretionary political approvals were necessary. At the end of the day, however, a number of independent studies demonstrated that the project will have a sustainable beneficial impact to the State and the City – plus the major players all have a long term commitment to the Kansas City area. So the bottom line is that it is a great project with great people involved. That is always a good place to start.
How did the economy affect getting these deals done?
In a strange way, the troubled economy probably helped make this project happen where it did. The only way to build something like this is through a public private partnership and through access to the municipal bond market. The Village West area has a 10 year history of successful partnerships of this type, and has a lot of credibility in the bond market and that stands out in this economy.
Who else was involved in the deals and what were their roles?
Tim Weaver and Owen Buckley at Lane 4 are the real estate advisors. OnGoal and Kansas Stadium Partners led by Robb Heineman, the president of the Wizards, is the developer. Rick Worner at Oppenheimer helped with the initial structure. The whole finance and legal team at Cerner was very involved. The Mayor and administrative staff at the Unified Government work tirelessly on this as did the folks at the Department of Commerce.
How were each of the above transactions financed?
Each of the project components has a public and private financing source. The Youth fields will utilize county or park bonds to be paid by revenues from the events. The Cerner campus will be financed by Cerner and by $48,000,000 in IMPACT bonds issued by the State of Kansas. The Stadium will be financed by developer debt and equity as well as $147,000,000 in STAR bonds.
What do you enjoy most about kind of work?
I started in real estate law, and gravitated toward real estate development law because is was closer to litigation in many ways. The thing that I’ve really enjoyed is that in this type of development work, for good or bad, eventually you see what you’ve been working on. I get to drive my family by a development and see it. It’s something I can be proud of.
What’s your next project?
We’re working on another deal at 39th and Rainbow. For over two years, we’ve been working to redevelop a 2-block area near the KU Med Center. It will be mixed use development with retail, hotel and apartments. It’ll be more of an urban setting which I think will be great for that area.
What do you do in your spare time?
My favorite acivity is helping my daughters (5 and 3) with their art work and then trying to figure out what they actually painted. I love to ski and enjoy all the local sports teams. But my favorite is definitely the Wizards!