SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Now that the Royals have picked their preferred site to bring baseball to downtown Kansas City, the work only picks up from here.

In addition to working on a lease agreement with Jackson County and a community benefits agreement, the Royals are actively having conversations with property owners and tenants about buying the land that¡¯s in the 17.3-acre footprint of the proposed stadium and entertainment district, reaching from Grand Boulevard east to Locust Street and from Interstate 670 south to 17th street.

Early voting started Friday for the stadium sales tax ballot measure, with overseas military members able to cast the first ballots. Absentee voting starts Tuesday, and Election Day is April 2. If approved, a new 3/8-cent sales tax would be established for the next 40 years, replacing the current 3/8-cent sales tax that voters approved in 2006 for the Truman Sports Complex. The new tax would help fund the Royals¡¯ new stadium and renovations at the Kansas City Chiefs¡¯ Arrowhead Stadium.

Royals CEO/chairman John Sherman, speaking Monday before the team¡¯s first full-squad Spring Training workout in Surprise, Ariz., said the lease agreement and community benefits agreement should be done ¡°well in advance¡± of April 2. The teams are currently negotiating them.

As for the land acquisition, Sherman said the Royals are meeting with property owners and tenants Monday and Tuesday. Conversations are ongoing.

¡°We expect to negotiate or come to an agreement with all the properties,¡± Sherman said. ¡°... I think we have a pretty good handle on that. But there certainly is, because of the suddenness, in some cases we¡¯re just trying to listen and have empathy and try to help them in their transition.¡±

The Royals had narrowed down their list of site locations to two before they announced their preference was to move to the Crossroads, also looking at land in the East Village. They were able to have some discussions with property owners before the announcement, but others, like the citywide renters¡¯ union KC Tenants, have raised concerns about local businesses being demolished when the Royals start building.

Sherman expressed his empathy for the timeline that transpired over the past two months.

¡°Just because of the way that the process went, and I don¡¯t want to get into the sausage-making completely, here, but between the way we had to get through the Jackson County legislature with the veto override, we were pushed back quite a bit,¡± Sherman said. ¡°The Crossroads site, we¡¯re very excited about that site. But one of the unfortunate things is that this news was kind of sudden to some of the folks in the Crossroads. So we¡¯re in the process right now sitting down with people affected by this and making sure they understand we¡¯re there to help the transition on that type of stuff.

¡°So I feel really good about the vote and the election, but I¡¯m also sensitive to the parts of the community that we¡¯re trying to spend some time with.¡±

When asked about getting pushback from property owners who don¡¯t want to sell, Sherman said the Royals aren¡¯t ¡°hearing something as direct as that.¡±

¡°For the most part, I think they want to be heard,¡± Sherman said. ¡°They want to understand what our objectives are and our commitment to how we fit into the neighborhood and our support of the neighborhood as well. There are a couple of owners and tenants of buildings -- and there are some challenges. I wish we could have been out there early with them, and I have great empathy for the businesses and people who will be disrupted. We want to work with their landlords and the owners to try to help them through that.¡±

When announcing the Crossroads as their proposed new home last week, the Royals stressed their intentions to be good neighbors in the district that has made an emphasis on local food, art and music. The stadium would be across the interstate from T-Mobile Center and blocks away from the Power & Light District, Municipal Auditorium and the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

By bringing baseball into the district, the Royals hope to give neighboring businesses a boost from the fans who will visit the stadium and come to Kansas City for games.

¡°We¡¯re going to seamlessly weave this ballpark into this city, into this neighborhood,¡± Populous CEO Earl Santee said at the announcement. ¡°¡­It needs to feel like it¡¯s quintessentially Kansas City. It needs to feel like it¡¯s authentic to Kansas City. When you¡¯re in this ballpark, and when people see it on TV, they will instantly know, ¡®You¡¯re in Kansas City.¡¯¡±