BELTON, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Ryan has extensively covered development across Cass County and urban sprawl — including the Uptown Entertainment District in Belton, Missouri. Share your story idea with Ryan.
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The Belton, Missouri City Council approved the first reading of a bill that is home to $250 million in Industrial Bond Funding (Chapter 100) over a 20-year period. The agreement is also expected to match $250 million in private investment. The city entered in an MOU with the developer in Spring 2025 to begin drafting the financing tool, months before the project was announced. Tuesday night was the first stem in finalizing those agreements.
While the council voted on the first reading, it's not set in stone, it must go before the council at it's next meeting in two weeks.
At Tuesday night's meeting, there was plenty of discussion to better understand what Belton (and developer, PETRA) is getting into.
The 20-year agreement holds considerable tax breaks for the developer if the council chooses to move forward at its next meeting.
KSHB 41 Cass County reporter Ryan Gamboa has extensively covered the progress of the project since it was first announced in November 2025.
The multi-purpose development, in addition to 600 new homes, would offer five 6,000-square-foot sit-down restaurants, 7,500 square feet of retail and a 110,000-square-foot entertainment complex.
Back on March 10, 2026, at a city council meeting, Tyler Burks, a representative from the developer PETRA, announced that an agreement had been signed with B&B Theatres.
The agreement would include go-karts, a new movie theater and a bowling alley.
A concept, developer Tyler Burks says is different than any B&B has taken on.
"B&B came to the table and said, Hey, we have this awesome concept. It's not just movie theaters. It's this full entertainment venue that has movie theaters, and basically Dave & Buster's and Andretti's all mashed into one," he said.
Earlier this year, B&B Theatres closed a location in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
"B&B routinely reviews the theatres in our circuit and makes decisions based on what will best strengthen the Company going forward. After thoughtful review, we have made the decision to exit this location. We encourage you to continue enjoying the B&B experience at our other Kansas City locations," B&B Theatres told KSHB 41 in a statement back in March.
Burks said that his office is reviewing studies showing that Gen Z is getting back in front of the silver screen, something he sees could benefit Belton.
"There's a whole new momentum coming... currently with younger folks [who] wanted to actually leave the iPad at home and say, let's enjoy a night out with friends," he said.
But to get to that point of opening the doors to a new generation of entertainment seekers, hundreds of apartments, alongside new retail and dining options — the development needs funding.
Funding, he previously told KSHB 41 would be created by private investors.
In Burks' presentation to the council, the project is expected to have a $53.2 million financing gap without the incentives. It's the gap that relating the projects expected financial return and what the PETRA would need to make the investment achievable.
The property, which has already been rezoned for development, is only generating minimal in property tax revenue as it sits.
It's estimated the total savings to the developer would be about $56 million in property taxes over the 20-year period, money that would normally fund the schools, the city, and other taxing jurisdictions.
While PETRA saves $56 million, taxing jurisdictions should expect to see greater revenue generation on the property as it's developed. It also eliminates sales tax on materials to build the project.
Council members asked legal council, city staff, and the developer plenty of questions to best understand the agreement.
Assistant City Manager Mike Ekey and legal bond counsel Sarah Granath responding to questions from council members regarding what his biggest concern with the project would be.
Granath explained it would be activating the bond money at different times with the project taking on multiple phases.
"It's the unknown market that's coming," she said.
Granath telling the council, the developer reaps what it sows, and the the liability under the agreement is on them if the project does not meet expectations.
Ekey also told the council, it's impossible to forecast the the global market which development is often tied up in.
"The biggest thing is that he wanted to make sure taxpayers were protected and if it fails and that it wasn't on the city," Ekey said.
The agreement is aligned to put the liability on PETRA in the event of under performance.
"We want to make sure the development in the renderings is delivered," added Ekey.
Councilman Richardson brought up concerns with bringing in a movie theater development — hinting at snags in bong payments in Overland Park's Prairiefire Entertainment District.
Back in January, KSHB 41 Political Reporter Charlie Keegan reported that UMB Bank, the trustee for the community improvement district [CID] bond, confirmed that it alerted bondholders about a missed payment.
The Prairiefire project previously defaulted on a STAR bond payment. The project used STAR bonds, a similar funding tool used in Kansas, or sales tax and revenue bonds, to cover more than $60 million in 2012. The CID bond added several million dollars to the project.
Local leaders in Kansas reiterated that the default in a bond payment did not leave the city liable.
Richardson also wanted to know why PETRA was seeking the funding now, after the council already approved the land for rezoning.
Burks reiterated to KSHB 41's Cass County reporter that drafting these documents and agreements take time, and Monday night was simply moving forward with the MOU the city entered into in Spring last year.
Additionally, the council approved a upwards of $7 million in sales tax reimbursements toward the developer generated from new businesses in the district. While the taxpayers aren't on the hook in the Chapter 100 deal, tax dollars generated upon completion of the development would help repay the developer.
The project is expected to break ground in the coming months. With the biggest hurdle according tot he developer is road, sewer, and water infrastructure, to get the project ready for the later phases.
Residents were permitted to speak if they were in the impacted taxing jurisdictions only. No one shared any thoughts, other than one man who wanted to speak on the Belton School District. He did not reside in those districts, so was unable to voice his opinion.
The council is expected to vote to approve or deny the tax incentives to move the funding mechanism forward. Monday night was only the first read of the bill, nothing has been formally enacted.
Developer Tyler Burks with PETRA grew up in Belton and added in a conversation with Gamboa that he hopes this project can be a statement piece for his hometown.
"We want his to be a statement piece for the city and show Belton can do it at the end of the day," he said. "From the incentive piece, we look at the benefit of what it does from a development standpoint, but the most important piece is how does this truly benefit the city. We're pretty close to generating no taxes on it today. So what is it generating when for the city after the tools are in place? It's significantly higher."
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