WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - It's been a slow start for the Wichita Wind Surge on the field but Tuesday, the team and the development group working with them got a huge win off the field. The Wichita City Council approved a change in the Stadium and Delano development agreement with Wichita Riverfront LP, the real estate side of the Wind Surge ownership group. 

The new agreement allows for a second office building to be added to the plans, as well as a larger hotel and parking garage. Wind Surge CEO Jordan Kobritz says the plans needed to be expanded because, "We've gotten a lot of interest and a lot of inquiries since this project was announced publicly back in December. So we just felt now is the time to expand it and perhaps get it done sooner. It benefits the city, obviously, it'll benefit the ballpark and the entire Delano area.”

As part of the reworked agreement, the city will use over $8 million dollars in Tax Incremental Financing, or TIF, money to help pay for the parking garage and improvements along the riverbank. TIF money is sales taxes from certain defined districts that are captured and set aside for use on infrastructure improvements in that specific district.

The city will also provided Industrial Revenue Bonds to help with the office space development. Mayor Brandon Whipple says, “By offsetting some of the taxes that they would be paying, while they build this up, we actually benefit from the tax money that comes from expanded jobs, and other economic impacts for putting this type of economic engine into the downtown area.”

While the plan received unanimous support from the council, it was not fully supported in the chamber. Several people spoke during public comment about the project, saying the plans were not disclosed to the public enough and that the city should not be spending more of its money on developing the area when ballpark revenues haven't been as high as projected.

Mayor Whipple says since this plan was just a tweak of the original plan from last year, it didn't go through the usual public DAB board process. As for the numbers around the ballpark, he says that the city is viewing this like an investment. 

“The reality is most businesses take a few years until they actually get the traction, you need to be successful. This is the same where we expect the revenue for these to actually go up according to our projections.”