Wichita airport hotel rejected, city cites developer’s background check
After four years of on-again, off-again negotiations, the Wichita City Council has rejected a developer’s plan for an airport hotel after two competitors objected.
City staff initially recommended going forward, but changed that after a more thorough vetting of hotelier Mitesh Patel, who has built seven hotels in the Wichita area, several with city assistance.
“In the course of that we learned there were additional entities that were not disclosed in the vetting process,” said Assistant City Manager Scot Rigby. “Since that time we have finished that vetting process and through that vetting process we have found additional companies that were not listed and additional liens on those businesses.”
Patel, who built the Hampton Inn at the airport and sold it to its current owner, Sudha Tokala, denied he had any issues that would affect completion of another hotel.
He said the company Rigby referred to closed in 2015 and he is in the process of disputing the liens against it. He said he offered to put the amount at issue, $71,000, in escrow in case he loses.
Patel’s plan has been consistently opposed by the two hotels already on airport property, the Hampton Inn and the DoubleTree by Hilton.
Working in partnership, they had delayed the plan since 2017 by invoking DoubleTree’s first right of refusal, which gives that hotel, owned by a Colorado-based investment group, the right to match or better any proposed hotel developments at the airport, city records show.
Patel said the two existing hotels only opposed his plan because they didn’t want any more competition.
Tokala is partnered with the city in one of its biggest downtown ventures, the conversion of the former Finney State Office Building into a medical school for osteopathic physicians.
Council member Brandon Johnson thanked the city staff for the extra vetting of Patel’s companies.
Council member Bryan Frye echoed that and added: “I would also like to let our development community know that, do not take this as a sign that we’re not open for business. We still need to develop our airport to its fullest capability and don’t let this be a bump in the road. We’re still open for business; we want to hear ideas and proposals. So. . .”
This story was originally published May 11, 2021 at 3:01 PM.
