Wichita City Council members have approved changes to a development agreement to allow for delays in a project to build a new medical school with student housing, a culinary school and a hotel.
Four buildings are being redeveloped in downtown Wichita to create the Kansas Health Science Center, a student housing facility, a culinary school operated by WSU Tech, and an AC Marriott Hotel. The Science Center will be located in the former State Office Building at 130 South Market. The former Sutton Place building at 209 East William will be used for student housing. The culinary school will be located in the former Henry’s building at 124 South Broadway, and the former Broadway Plaza building at 105 South Broadway will be converted into a hotel.
Developers are having challenges in completing the project because of problems in the supply chain for building materials, and there are also staffing challenges with the construction crew. The Science Center is still expected to be completed in August, 2022, but the student housing facility has been delayed from August 2022 to December 2023. The hotel project will be delayed from March 2022 to December and the culinary school completion will be delayed from July to August, 2022.
Changes were also made to provide for additional spaces in the Market Street parking garage, and the spaces would be used six months earlier, in January, 2022.
[ photo – City of Wichita ]
