Wichita City Council members have approved a preliminary agreement for the development of about two acres of land near Maple and McLean, adding new features to the area around Riverfront Stadium.
A Memorandum of Understanding calls for Wichita Riverfront LP and EPC Real Estate to build a full-service hotel of at least six floors and at least 150 rooms. There will also be a 55,000 square-foot office building with at least 5,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. The project will also build a parking garage with at least 200 spaces that can provide public parking on evenings and weekends. There are also plans for public improvements along the west bank of the Arkansas River.
The city will use Tax Increment Financing, supported by increases in property tax revenue, for the parking garage. The city is also setting aside $3 million in unallocated funds for the public riverbank improvements, but that will only be used if funding is unavailable through the state’s SPARK program, using funds from the American Rescue Plan.
Construction on the $18.6 million-dollar development is expected to begin by early July, 2022 with completion in July, 2024.
