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The Wichita City Council Tuesday approved incentives for a new downtown hotel. The Hilton Garden Inn would cost about $14 million to build near Douglas and Topeka at the current home of the Commerce Plaza building. A higher sales tax rate in the area would fund construction of the hotel at the site. Tuesday morning, the council approved the formation of a community improvement district with a 1.5-percent sales tax on the property for 10 years. The incentive also calls for the developer of the hotel project to be exempt from paying sales taxes on building materials for the hotel. Developers hope to have the project finished by the end of 2017 or in early 2018. The incentive package to build the new hotel passed 5-2 Tuesday morning. In other business related to downtown Wichita hotel development Tuesday, the Wichita City Council approved a sale agreement with businessman Phil Ruffin for the Hyatt Regency Hotel at 400 Waterman Street. The Hyatt has a purchase price of $20 million. In June, the city received a pair of offers to purchase the Hyatt. Wichita Assistant City Manager Scott Rigby said the city received local, regional and national interest and inquiries. |
