A theme park spotlighting famous toys including the Barbie brand and Hot Wheels is slated to come to Kansas powered by the state’s sales tax incentive for major developments.
Bonner Springs officials in October approved a large tax incentive package to help the $540 million development of Mattel Adventure Park in Wyandotte County.
The park will be built near an entertainment district in Kansas City, Kansas. That area already features shopping and sports venues, and it will likely be the new home of the Kansas City Chiefs new $3 billion stadium.
It’s another major development project to which the state has committed future tax revenue through the Sales and Tax Revenue incentive, also known as STAR bonds. Those are loans secured by a municipality that are paid off through state and local sales tax revenue generated by the project. Sales taxes collected in the special district go to paying back the bonds instead of being collected by governments.
But if a project were to fail, municipalities do not have to guarantee the bonds, meaning the investors who provided the loan may ultimately be on the hook for them — not taxpayers or the developers. That’s what happened when a STAR bond project in Overland Park defaulted on its loan, according to the Kansas City Star.
State officials have also argued that STAR bonds create new tax revenue to fund the projects and do not use existing dollars.
But Zach Mohr, a public finance expert at the University of Kansas, said these kinds of major developments are still tying up the state’s future revenue.
“These projects are committing the state to lots and lots of money,” Mohr said.
Bonner Springs pledged about $220 million to the theme park construction, $175 million of that will come from STAR bonds.
Mayor Tom Stephens said the Bonner Springs community is cautiously optimistic about the project that could bring many thousands of visitors to the small community.
But the benefit to the city cannot be ignored. He said the city expects the project to nearly double its taxable property value.
“(It) will lead to a lot of property tax relief for our constituents out here in Bonner,” Stephens said.
Developers told the city that the project consists of the theme park, an indoor rainforest, retail space and hotels.
The theme park will feature a Barbie Beach House, where visitors can build custom Barbie dolls, and a Hot Wheels rollercoaster, among several other toy-branded attractions. The developers estimate the development will create $190 million of annual revenue.
Stephens said construction may begin in 2027 and the theme park could open in 2031. That’s the same year the Chiefs expect to open a new stadium in the same area.
The project will be built on the northwest corner of Bonner Springs city limits, which is adjacent to The Legends, a regional shopping mall and commercial area in the Village West development in Kansas City, Kansas. That’s also the home of the Kansas Speedway and Sporting Kansas City’s soccer stadium — two other projects funded through STAR bonds.
