After missing two deadlines, developers of a new hotel in downtown Wichita now have until the end of March to finish the project, or lose out on a crucial tax incentive from the city.
The Hilton Garden Inn on Douglas was originally supposed to open in time for the NCAA tournament earlier this year. That didn’t happen, and after receiving an extension from the city, developers missed another deadline last month.
Now, City Council members are giving Wichita Downtown Hotel, LLC six more months to open the 120-room hotel. If they don’t, the city will cancel a Community Improvement District, which would allow the hotel to charge an added 1.5 percent sales tax to support the project.
"What I’m afraid of is that we continue this dance that we’ve been doing with this project," Vice Mayor Bryan Frye said during Tuesday's meeting, "and we’re going to get to another request to extend past the March 31st, 2019, date.”
The CID can be used to generate up to $930,000 for the $14.4 million project, which also includes commercial space and a parking garage.
Developer Mitesh Patel says designs for a “one-of-a-kind” rooftop pool have stalled progress on the project for the past 8 months.
“We decided to add a pool to the top of the hotel, and to do that, we had to completely stop the project in the middle of the project," he explained.
The hotel is being built in the site of the Commerce Plaza building. The city agreed to issue Industrial Revenue Bonds to help finance the project.
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