Wichita City Council members have approved changes in a development agreement with two groups for projects involving several properties near Riverfront Stadium.
The agreement was created in 2019 with Wichita Riverfront for six properties along the Arkansas River downtown. That includes five properties on the west side near the stadium and one property on the east side north of the Drury Hotel. The agreement called for a hotel, office buildings, retail space and a parking garage, along with other riverfront improvements.
The agreement was changed because of a lack of progress in developing the area. The change will turn the project over to EPC Real Estate, and it still calls for a 155-room hotel, 10,000 square feet of retail space and a 260-stall parking garage. The office component was changed to a 150-unit apartment complex.
Wichita Riverfront will have two properties with the option to buy a third, and it will be allowed to develop the properties under limitations imposed by the Delano Neighborhood Plan and the Ballpark Village Master Plan.
The city plans to purchase the parking garage when it is near completion, and assistant city manager Troy Anderson said a number of stalls would be leased to the hotel, apartments, and retail businesses under an overall parking plan for the area.
