Project: I-70 and 110th Street Interchange

When the Speedway and Village West developments were first proposed, there was considerable public concern that tax dollars were being used to help these developments with no guarantee that the community would receive any benefit. Despite this concern, the public did vote to support the development project with public funding. Today, the public hails the project as the best thing that has happened to the region in decades.

In the county, new residential development increased from 100 units per year before the Speedway, to 500 per year in 2007. Between 2003 and 2005, the county saw $200 million invested in new residences. In 1997 when the Speedway project first came about, homes sold for a maximum of $150,000. Now speculative homes valued at over $500,000 are being built. Spokespersons for the Unified Government credit the Speedway and adjacent Village West mixed-use development with spurring this additional development throughout the county.

The Kansas Speedway proved to be a powerful anchor for the area. The Speedway hosts five major events and 200 smaller events (such as driving clinics) per year, attracting 650,000 visitors annually. Prior to the Speedway, the site generated only $15,000 annually in property taxes, and is now expected to generate over $5 million annually. For the first 30 years after the project development, the Speedway is paying a $5.3 million annual PILOT to the Unified Government to pay off a $70 million bond floated to pay for some of the infrastructure supporting the speedway. The STAR bonds sold to fund the Speedway totaled $23 million, which require an annual payment of just under $2 million. However, the property is generating over $3 million in sales tax annually. Approximately 70% of visitors to the Speedway come from outside the Kansas City region, accessing the site via I-70 and I-435. The Speedway employs 60 full-time employees year-round, with this number swelling to over 1,000 additional part time employees on the five big race weekends.

Development attractions include Cabela's (with more than 2 million visitors in the first five months it was open), the Nebraska Furniture Mart, and the Legends (several restaurants, a 14-screen cinema, six hotels, a mule deer museum, and an indoor water park). The impacts of the investment in the I-70 interchange and the surrounding 1,600 acres are still being realized. Expected future developments include the $370 million Schlitterbahn Aquatic Park on 370 acres, a $705.6 million state-owned, but privately managed casino (recently placed on hold due to the national economic downturn), and new residential development which has increased from 100 units per year before the Speedway, to 500 per year in 2007. Notably, Wyandotte County has reversed its previous employment losses, with employment in the county increasing by 5% between 1995 and 2006. In the 66111 zip code, where the interchange, speedway and new retail development is located, employment increased from 2, 745 to 9630 (251%) between 1994 and 2006. The package of incentives in the Tourist District, including the highway interchange and roadway improvements, has resulted in economic impacts beyond anything that was predicted. The 1,200 acre speedway and adjacent 400-acre development parcel (site of the Village West project) have attracted development that has created approximately 5,900 jobs. This has resulted in sales tax revenues approaching $50 million per year, new property taxes of $13 million annually, $5.3 million in PILOT payments, $900 million in direct construction investment, and over 2 million square feet of development. This does not include the Schlitterbaun and casino projects that are under construction and planned. Approximately 30% of these impacts can be attributed to the roadway infrastructure improvements.