110-room Hyatt Place hotel slated to open at Wichita State University

UPDATED — A hotel deal is back on the front burner at Wichita State University.

This time, it’s for a 110-room Hyatt Place, which the Hyatt website describes as an upscale select-service hotel that’s popular in urban areas and on college campuses.

The chain competes with brands such as Courtyard by Marriott, Hilton Garden Inn, SpringHill Suites and Aloft Hotels, one of which opened in 2017 near K-96 and Oliver not far from WSU.

The 4-story, 64,000-square-foot hotel would have an indoor pool, a bar and restaurant among other amenities. It would be positioned just south of 19th and Oliver with a view of a lake on the east side of the campus.

The Kansas Board of Regents previously approved plans for an Element by Westin, which WSU announced in June 2016 for the site.

Along the way, plans were scaled back, and university officials said this summer an Element deal was uncertain as developers negotiated with other hotel companies.

WSU has submitted a modification to its original plans for the site, which the Regents likely will consider in November.

Pending approval and finalization of other details, construction could start this spring, and Hyatt Place would then open in spring 2020.

There are just over 300 Hyatt Place hotels, and they account for 42 percent of Hyatt’s portfolio.

If approved, this would be the first Hyatt Place in Wichita.

Lodging One Hospitality, a hotel management group with offices in Leawood and Frisco, Texas, is leading the development.

“We believe the combination of corporate visitors, families of students, campus event participants and visiting athletics teams provide a strong base of guests for an on-campus hotel,” said Kenneth Heinz, CEO of Lodging One, in a news release.

“We are pleased to expand into Wichita, which has been a strategic target market for us.”

This story was originally published October 25, 2018 at 5:00 AM.