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Developers hope to add a lot of new entertainment, dining and hotel options to KC's roster of options. They are hustling to finish projects before the tournament arrives in mid-2026. Here's a quick look at a dozen or so underway and looking to score with the global soccer extravaganza.
A long list of Kansas City-area projects are scrambling to be ready by the time the 2026 FIFA World Cup comes to town.
Kansas City is one of 15 host cities for the 2026 World Cup. During the tournament’s group stage, the area will host four games: June 16, 20, 25 and 27. It will host one match in the knockout round on July 3 and will have a coveted quarterfinal match on July 11. All the games are at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. FIFA estimates that the metro area will host about 650,000 visitors during the World Cup.
Those visitors will be looking for places to stay, eat and be entertained. If developers hit their marks, visitors will have some new things to see or experience in the Kansas City area. Here are a few shooting for completion before the biggest event Kansas City has ever hosted.
Kansas City spent $351.7 million on a 3.5-mile extension along Main Street between Union Station and the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus that is scheduled to open to riders early next year. The city also is working on a $61.1 million, 0.7-mile extension from the River Market to Berkley Riverfront that is scheduled to open in 2026.
The extensions will connect all the areas between Berkley Riverfront the Country Club Plaza, making it a convenient way for World Cup fans to move around Downtown.
Smack dab in the middle of the extended streetcar line will be the official FIFA Fan Fest site at the World War I Museum & Memorial.
While the World Cup matches being played in Kansas City will be at Arrowhead Stadium, soccer fans will want to watch the other matches and hang out with other soccer fans from around the world. That’s where FIFA Fan Fest comes in. The area around the World War I Museum & Memorial will be transformed to accommodate thousands of fans.
The downtown area has two projects in the works that will give visitors a place to relax and soak in the atmosphere.
The South Loop Park is generating a lot of excitement. The four-block park will be constructed atop Interstate 670, connecting the Kansas City Power & Light District with the Crossroads Arts District. There’s a big question mark on what a realistic timeline is, but city leaders hope to at least get two blocks done before the World Cup arrives.
Kansas City also is trying to renovate Barney Allis Plaza in Downtown, with a target completion in the summer of 2026, just before the tournament comes. The $119.8 million project includes building a two-level parking garage, lowering the plaza to street level, then adding a paved event plaza, a pavilion with food and beverage options, a children’s play space, art installations, a dog park and open areas. Barney Allis sits between 12th and 13th streets and Central and Wyandotte streets.
Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza has a new owner in Dallas-based HP Village Management LLC, which is planning to give it a facelift.
The new owner will focus heavily on leasing efforts, bringing in more local food, beverage and retail operators instead of national chains. It’s looking to introduce a small grocery store and some high-end entertainment concepts. HP Village Management took immediate steps to increase security and began some long-needed maintenance projects.
Drake Development LLC already has broken ground on a multirestaurant building on the Plaza at 604 W. 47th St. The vision is for the new three-story building to house a restaurant on each level.
The Kansas City Current, the area’s professional women’s soccer team, also looks to score on the retail front by kicking off development of a huge walkable mixed-use project surrounding CPKC Stadium on the riverfront. The Current hopes to get the first phase done before the World Cup. It includes 429 apartments, 53,000 square feet of retail and a town square area with a central plaza and a splash pad.
Atlas9, a cutting-edge, $26.7 million entertainment venue in the Homefield project near 94th Street and State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, plans to open next summer and hopes to have a big effect on the World Cup crowd. The project combines the technical expertise of Overland Park-based Dimensional Innovations with the live performance wonder of Kansas City-based Quixotic and will be run by experienced entertainment venue operator Swell Spark.
The Museum of BBQ looks to open in the spring in Crown Center and probably will be a popular new destination for World Cup fans.
The Rock Island Bridge also should be ready in time for the World Cup, giving visitors a place to eat, drink, shop and see the skylines of both KCMO and KCK from the vantage point of the Kansas River.
Lee’s Summit has big plans rolling forward with Village at Discovery Park. The development includes apartments, hotels, retail and green space. The entire project won’t be done in time for the World Cup, but developers plan to have a 107-room Home2 Suites by Hilton and a 123-room Marriott Towneplace Suites ready in time.
The Kansas City Current plans to build a five story, 134-room Hilton Garden Inn next to its training facility in Riverside. The team hopes to have it open in early 2026.
HWC Development plans a four-story, 100,000-square-foot AC Hotel by Marriott at the southwest corner of 115th Street and Nall Avenue in Overland Park. It plans to have it open before the World Cup. The hotel is surrounded by vacant lots that eventually could become sites for retail and restaurants.
Kansas City has six locations in the running to serve as base camps for the 48 teams that in the 2026 World Cup. If these sites attract a team, their fans will flock to the area and provide an economic boost to the entire area.
The sites include: Sporting Kansas City’s Compass Minerals National Performance Center in Kansas City, Kansas; Children’s Mercy Park; Swope Soccer Village; Julian Field in Parkville; the Kansas City Chiefs University of Kansas Hospital Training Complex at the Jackson County Sports Complex; and the Current’s facilities on Berkley Riverfront.
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