'Time to Put it to Bed': KC Council Approves Controversial Airport Concessions Contract

Oct. 7—The Kansas City Council on Thursday approved a 15-year contract with Canada's Vantage Airport Group to run the concession program at the city's new airport terminal over the objections of some council members.

The vote allows Vantage to begin building out the food, beverage and retail operations that will be the hallmark of the new $1.5 billion terminal expected to open in March 2023.

" Kansas City government takes seriously its obligation to develop and manage the finest new airport terminal facility in the world — serving the people of Missouri, Kansas, and all our passengers," Lucas posted to Twitter after the contract was approved. "I am glad to see us move forward on our efforts today."

Vantage won't operate any businesses inside the airport, but instead contract out leases to national and local brands. Critics highlighted that model as a major risk of the Vantage proposal, which will charge tenants monthly rent and the costs of building out individual stores.

The contract was approved 9-2 on Thursday, with council members Katheryn Shields and Teresa Loar voting no. Councilman Dan Fowler abstained and Councilwoman Heather Hall was absent.

The company proposed dividing the concession area into locally inspired neighborhoods. One area inspired by City Market, for example, will include a market-like canopy with venues underneath.

Vantage plans to bring local companies like Bo Lings Chinese Restaurant, The Kansas City Call, Parisi Coffee, Stockyards Brewing, Urban Cafe and Tay's Burger Shack. Its proposal also included national brands like Auntie Anne's pretzels and Cinnabon. It originally proposed including a Chick-fil-A, but pulled that chain out of the plan after objections from Kansas City's LGBTQ Commission.

The contract has been hotly debated inside and outside of City Hall. Before the vote, the four bids that weren't recommended by a private city selection committee joined forces to question Kansas City's procurement process.

Most council members discredited those concerns.

Fowler said Vantage offered the best opportunity to bring local businesses into the new terminal and said its proposal did more to include disadvantaged and minority businesses.

Fowler's role has been questioned by the losing bidders, as he was the only council member on the concessions selection committee. The councilman previously hired local consultant Jason Parson to work on his election campaign. Parson is a partner in Vantage's bid for the concessions contract, which the selection committee unanimously recommended.

Fowler, who represents District 2, reported the issue to the Municipal Officials and Officers Ethics Commission, which found "no direct conflict of interest" and "no direct evidence of favoritism." But the commission said it would have been appropriate for Fowler to recuse himself.

In a fiery speech ahead of Thursday's vote, Fowler defended his actions, saying he also had friends participating in some of the other bids.

"At the end of the day, we have to do our job," he said. "When I took the oath of office the first time, that's what I pledged to do. The hardest part sometimes is to do your job despite what other people think and despite what your friends think."

He announced that he would abstain from the final vote, but still urged the council to approve the contract with Vantage.

"I want to put a curtain to some of this side show," Fowler said. "We've followed our process as best we can. It's time to put it to bed."

Shields, District 4 at-large, said she wanted a public hearing on the contracts next week. She has previously raised concerns that the procurement process — both for the airport contract and other city projects — leaves too much discretion to city staff and leaves out members of the public and the council.

"I did not have the opportunity to ask questions to understand actually the item that was brought before us and how one proposal compared to another," she said, before moving that the contract go back to committee.

She criticized the exception to the minimum annual guarantee, the primary figure that will determine how much revenue the city earns from the contract. In its proposal, Vantage offered to pay the city a minimum of $1.75 for every passenger who boards a flight at the airport. With 2019 passenger traffic patterns, that would have assured the airport more than $10 million.

But council members learned last week that the minimum payment would actually be reduced if airport traffic drops significantly. Shields specifically called out Aviation Director Pat Klein in her comments, arguing he had withheld important details from the council.

"I don't believe we know that this is the best proposal," she said.

"I think that if we have a public discussion of this we would find out whether or not this is the best proposal," Shields said. "To date, this public discussion has not occurred."

Her request to delay the vote for a public hearing was unsuccessful.

Vantage's was introduced as the winning bid to the city and public during a business session meeting last month. It was heard in the Transportation, Infrastructure and Operations Committee twice — including a dramatic meeting in which Shields and Loar walked out — before it was approved and sent to the full council.

Councilman Brandon Ellington, District 3 at-large, said he has long raised his own issues with the city's selection processes. But he questioned why concerns about the process were coming up only now and not during the last several months.

Ellington said he was "disgusted" by the attempts to change the process because some were unhappy with the company that won the bid.

"That's not about process," Ellington said. "That's about selective politics."

Loar was the only other member of the council to vote against the Vantage contract. Her motives have come under question for weeks now, as she sought to reverse the unanimous recommendation of the selection committee.

KCUR reported that Kansas City Manager Brian Platt flagged a "disturbing" call last month from Loar, who urged him to intervene in the bidding process. Loar's associate Lynn Hinkle, a local public relations expert who helped her get elected to council, also previously worked with Paradies Lagardere, a company involved in one of the competing bids.

Loar has also received political donations from Paradies and a local firm involved in that proposal.

Councilman Eric Bunch, of the 4th District, previously called Loar's behavior "completely unprofessional and inappropriate." At a previous meeting, she invited bidders who weren't recommended to speak out of turn, peppered the preferred vendor with questions and then left the meeting in an attempt to sidetrack the process.

"She clearly favors a team," Bunch said. "And that's not an objective process — that she just wanted a specific team to win. That's not how it works."

Rob van Snik, senior director of commercial development for Vantage, said the group was "delighted" with the council's approval.

"Our commitment to providing opportunities for local small businesses, inclusion of beloved local brands, minority-owned involvement at every level of the project, and strong partnership with local labor unions will help ensure we deliver a concession program that creates a true sense of place, which visitors to this great city will embrace and Kansas Citians can be proud of and call their own," van Snik said in a statement.

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