Owners of former Wichita Mall seek IRBs for new parking lot

The owner of the former Wichita Mall is seeking $3.6 million in industrial revenue bonds for a new parking lot — a request that the Wichita City Council will consider at its Tuesday meeting.

Co-Co Properties, a Wichita-based real estate development and leasing company, owns the 27-acre property at 4301 E. Harry. Co-Co has taken the 400,000-square-foot structure and converted it to primarily office use. Its current tenants include several Sedgwick County offices, Bethany College, Saint Francis Community Services and a Starwood Hotels call center that employs more than 500 workers.

According to city documents, Co-Co has done extensive work converting the property for office use and recruiting tenants for the space, but the parking lot is “beyond repair and requires complete removal and replacement.”

In an Aug. 21 letter submitted to the council, Co-Co managing member Max Cole said his company has spent “millions of dollars” in renovations and has not, until now, sought “public incentive or financing” to improve the property.

Cole said in the letter that the IRBs will finance the replacement of the parking lot. “We believe such work is imperative to our continued efforts to recruit and keep businesses which are creating jobs,” Cole said in the letter.

City documents said that current tenants of the former mall estimate they will create 95 new primary jobs in the next five years if the parking lot is repaired.

City staff is recommending approval of a letter of intent for the IRBs, according to city documents.

This story was originally published September 8, 2014 at 8:52 AM with the headline "Owners of former Wichita Mall seek IRBs for new parking lot."