Troubled Eisenhower Airport hotel deal delayed another two weeks by Wichita City Hall
A deal to build a new hotel at Wichita Eisenhower National Airport has been delayed for another two weeks while city government seeks to resolve objections from a bigger hotel nearby.
The unanimous vote Tuesday marked the second time the City Council has had to hit the brakes on the plan to lease six acres of airport land for 50 years to Mitesh Patel. Patel also developed and sold the Hampton Inn and Spring Hill Suites hotels at the airport.
A week ago, the lease was delayed after errors were found in the contract that could have potentially cost the city millions of dollars in lost rental income.
This time, the delay has to do with another hotel, the city manager said Tuesday.
Owners of the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel have right of first refusal on hotel property at the airport, meaning that the city has to give them a crack at matching any deals before leasing a hotel site to another company.
In the case of the new proposal, DoubleTree owners declined to exercise that right.
But a week ago, they threatened to take the city to court if it completes the deal with Patel.
DoubleTree contends that the terms in the agreement are more favorable than what they turned down when the city offered to honor their right of first refusal.
On Tuesday, City Manager Robert Layton said the city attorney’s office contacted DoubleTree’s lawyer, and he did not know his clients’ current stance on the issue.
The delay will provide time for him to consult with his clients and get back to the city about whether DoubleTree still has issues.
Mayor Jeff Longwell said he doesn’t know how long DoubleTree has had right of first refusal, but thinks it goes back to the hotel’s original development as the Airport Hilton.
He said the previous council from decades ago probably had to make that concession to get an upscale full-service hotel built at the airport.
Patel’s proposed hotel will be a “select services” hotel, which will have some meeting space and limited food and beverage services. It will be 90 rooms and situated just north of the Hampton Inn, off Ridge Road south of Kellogg.
Patel said he can’t finalize the branding until the lease is done, but he’ll be contractually obligated to bring in an upscale nationally recognized chain.
The contract was once considered so mundane that it was on the council’s consent agenda, where routine business matters are disposed of in bulk with a single vote.
But since then, it’s become one of the most contentious development deals of recent years and raised issues surrounding the conduct of city business.
“I can tell you the council has shared its frustration” with the city staff that makes up the agenda each week, Longwell said.
This story was originally published July 2, 2019 at 11:44 AM.
