Casino magnate Phil Ruffin has big plans for the former Kmart site in east Wichita
Wichita is poised to sell casino and real estate magnate Phil Ruffin 19 acres of land along Kellogg in east Wichita to develop a retail, restaurant and entertainment complex.
The land, the former site of a Kmart department store and Michael’s Crafts, has been in city hands for more than 10 years since it was acquired as part of the right-of-way for the extension of the highway east to Webb Road.
“I think we’re going to have a lot of fun developing that,” Ruffin said. “It’s a world class location.”
Ruffin’s offer is $8.7 million for the property, which is west of Webb on the north side of Kellogg.
It’s adjacent to two hotels he owns, the recently remodeled Wichita Marriott — his first hotel — and the newer Fairfield Inn and Suites, also a Marriott brand.
“You’ll have two hotels on site, connected with roads, and then a lot of retail in between, so it makes a lot of sense,” Ruffin said.
Ruffin said he doesn’t have the eventual occupants of the site lined up yet, but is planning a mix of stores and restaurants for certain and possibly a venue for the increasingly popular sport of pickleball, a tennis-style game played on a smaller court using solid paddles and a plastic ball.
He said he’s been waiting for Wichita City Hall to decide between competing proposals for the property and was pleased to learn that a staff committee is recommending his plan for approval among the three applicants when the council meets Tuesday.
Setting it apart from similar projects in recent Wichita history, “All costs of infrastructure and development will be funded by the developer with no request for public subsidies or incentives,” the staff report said. “The development plan as submitted creates a walkable environment featuring restaurants, retail, mixed use space,and an entertainment destination.”
Mayor Brandon Whipple said he doesn’t expect Ruffin’s proposal to meet with much, if any, opposition.
“There are no incentives being offered and (Ruffin’s) offer was $6 million over what the nearest offer was,” Whipple said.
Council member Becky Tuttle, who represents the area, was a non-voting member of the committee recommending Ruffin get the land. And she said “everyone was very supportive of the application.”
“That’s really the gateway on the east-side when you’re coming on Kellogg, but also if you come off the Turnpike,” Tuttle said. “It’s going to be the first things that people see when they enter our city, so I’m really excited about it.”
The city’s income from the sale will go to the city’s sales tax fund, where it will be used to improve Wichita roads and bridges, Layton and Whipple said.
Of Tuesday’s vote, Whipple said “We have the opportunity to get this going to grow our city and better our city.”
Las Vegas A’s?
Ruffin, who was raised in Wichita and is a graduate of North High School, owns a far-flung, multi-billion-dollar business empire with interests in real estate, oil, convenience stores and manufacturing.
But he’s probably best known for his work in Nevada’s hospitality industry, where he owns the Treasure Island and Circus Circus casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.
Now 86, he said he’s currently working on plans for improvements to the Circus Circus property, which he bought from MGM for $825 million in late 2019.
He said he also expects to meet in the coming weeks with a group seeking to build a stadium and move the Major League Baseball Oakland A’s to Las Vegas, where they would join the former Oakland Raiders football team.
“I think they want to talk to me about my land,” he said.
The National Hockey League Golden Knights have been a roaring success in Las Vegas, selling out every game in their four years of existence. The Raiders played their first season in Nevada last year to an empty stadium because of COVID, but their tickets for the upcoming season are highly sought-after.
Ruffin said baseball could be even bigger.
“The good part about baseball is they have 88 home games,” Ruffin said. “So that would be a very big deal. You wouldn’t be able to find a room in Vegas if that goes through.”
He said Oakland and the A’s are trying to work out a stadium deal there “and maybe they’ll get that done, even though they’re better off in Las Vegas.”
But no matter how far Ruffin’s business has grown, he’s maintained an interest in Wichita, the town where he grew up and got his start.
In 2016, he bought the Wichita Hyatt Regency Hotel from the city, which had owned it since 2001, when the original developer ran into cash-flow problems.
The $20 million from the sale went mostly to streets and transit, and also helped fund neighborhood projects identified by council members, including Pracht Wetlands Park, a display hangar for the restored World War II B-29 bomber known as “Doc,” and seed money for the ongoing restoration of the Dunbar Theater, in Wichita’s historically Black northeast area.
In 2018, Ruffin spent $1.6 million at auction to buy Sedgwick County-owned land under what used to be Ruffin’s Wichita Greyhound Park near Park City.
The property has sat idle since 2007, when voters narrowly rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed Ruffin to turn it into a “racino” with racing and slot machine gambling on the premises.
This story was originally published July 5, 2021 at 4:09 AM.
