The Village West development in Wyandotte County is one of the most successful economic development stories the State of Kansas has ever seen. It is also one of the most sophisticated, complex, public/private partnerships undertaken anywhere in the nation.

Village West is home to the Kansas Speedway NASCAR track, the number one Major League Soccer stadium in the world, the world’s tallest waterslide, and world-class shopping and dining. During this field demonstration, you’ll learn how the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, pioneered the use of unique financing tools and public/private partnerships to turn acres of mostly open fields into a destination attraction which draws 10-million visitors a year and generates $700-million in retail sales.

The total investment in Village West is approaching $2-billion. More than $1.4-billion of that is private investment. That does not include the investment in nearby shopping areas and other developments created because of the STAR Bond investments.

The STAR Bond investment in Village West has created nearly 11,000 new jobs. Village West businesses employ 5,700 people. The Cerner Continuous Campus created 4,000 new high-paying jobs. The Hollywood Casino employees 700 people and the Dairy Farmers of America Global Headquarters now under construction will be home to 325 very high paying executive jobs.

Village West is home to more than 116 businesses, including 29 restaurants. Dozens of other businesses, from retail stores to medical offices, are located nearby the Village West area.

The STAR Bond investment in western Wyandotte County has sparked a surge in residential housing. Besides hundreds of single-family residential homes in the area because of Village West, hundreds of apartments are being built and occupied. The Village West Luxury apartments Complex is a $30-million project with 306 units and the Prairie View complex next door is a $27-million project with 312 apartments.  Beginning construction is the Legends complex with 250 units built on top of an expanded Legends Shopping Center parking garage, a $30-million project with 306 units;

Before the STAR Bond investment to build Village West, the area produced $208,000 a year in property taxes and nearly no sales tax. Now the area is valued at $127-million, produces $22-million a year in property taxes and generates $700-million in retail sales. Those sales generate an estimated $50-million a year in state taxes, $13-million in local sales taxes and $2-million in hotel taxes. In 2015, Hollywood Casino generated $14.8-million in revenues for local governments, schools, civic and charitable organizations.

The vision for Village West was laid out in the late 1990s when the Kansas Speedway deal was put together. Then County Administrator Dennis Hays attributes the success of the development to the foresight of Unified Government commissioners who acquired 400 acres near the speedway for future development, steady support from state officials through the STAR Bond program, and the focused local political leadership made possible by having a unified government.

“It’s important to recognize if the normal political ingredients were in play, I’m not sure these opportunities would have emerged, let alone our having the fortitude to proceed and take the tough decisions,” Hays said.

The STAR Bonds issued to finance the Village West development will be paid-off in 2016, 5-years ahead of schedule, providing tens of millions of dollars a year in tax revenue to the Unified Government and State of Kansas.