A Sweet Deal… For Himself

As reported in this week’s feature story, Kansas City, Missouri, Aviation Department officials think they landed a good deal for Kansas City when they leased 300 acres of city property to FastTrack Group LLC, owners of the KCI Motorsports Park planned for the site.

Here’s who landed two good deals: Rick Watkins, who owns a real estate firm called Watkins and Company, Inc. (Rick is no relation to Warren Watkins, the funeral-home director who is one of the main subjects of this week’s story). Rick Watkins is also a principal owner in FastTrack Group LLC. For putting together the land deal to build a racetrack that he’ll partly own, Watkins and Co. will be paid a $748,084 real estate commission from the city.