TOPEKA (KSNT) – Hotel Topeka could officially have a buyer within a week. The city purchased the hotel more than two years ago for around $7.6 million. Since then, the city has invested over $10 million into the hotel.
Before Tuesday night’s city council meeting, a board meeting took place to adopt next year’s operating budget for Hotel Topeka. During the meeting, Endeavor Hotel Group CEO and President, Roy Arnold, spoke about what’s happened so far and what could happen soon.
Topeka is on track to lose 1.4 million dollars running the hotel this year. Next year’s budget forecasts losing 1.75 million dollars due to a loss of food, beverage and hotel room revenue. Large groups, like the billiards tournament, have decided not to stay at the hotel next year because of HVAC issues at the attached Maner Conference Center. Following this discussion, Arnold spoke about his vision for the hotel and a recap of negotiations.
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“I think we’re at a good point there,” Arnold said. “There were a couple details that needed to be clarified, but I’ve ran those past city council, and he was in agreement that he thought that these were reasonable and that we should be able to reach agreements.”
Expecting to execute a purchase sales agreement within a week, Arnold claims the current hotel is out of date. He’s currently looking at two designs to upgrade the hotel. These include new furniture in rooms, warmer colors and converting king room bathrooms into walk-in showers.
“It’ll be more expensive than it is now, but not more expensive than you would expect in a similar upscale, updated hotel here in Topeka,” Arnold said. “So, it’ll be within the market, it’ll be competitive in the market.”
City leaders say they did not build next year’s budget under city ownership, but rather what it would look like after a sale. Although that does not mean the city is checked out. That’s because until Topeka sells the hotel, it’s their asset.
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