The Wichita City Council approved amending the Delano and Stadium project plan and adopted a new Stadium Hotel project plan.
The council amended the TIF district due to changes in the original project. It now proposes to build a 150-unit apartment complex instead of office space, a public parking garage instead of a private one and a 155-key hotel. Housing, parking and hotel rooms are all much-needed in the downtown and surrounding area.
Assistant City Manager Troy Anderson told council members that if the plan wasn't approved, the project would be at risk. With no hotel, retail space or apartments, there is no property generating taxes to pay down the stadium debt.
EPC Real Estate Group plans to invest roughly $110 million in the project, up from $77 million in the original plan from 2022. TIF funds will pay for sitework, infrastructure, riverfront improvements, and parking and will be used to reimburse the developer up to $11.3 million. Any additional TIF funds can be used to pay other TIF eligible costs incurred by the City, including debt.
Under the new agreement, construction on the project must begin within 13 months.