Endeavor Hotel Group details renovation plan for Hotel Topeka; council hears calls for transparency

Roy Arnold, CEO of Endeavor Hotel Group, outlined the company’s proposal to renovate and rebrand Hotel Topeka and described ongoing negotiations with city and county staff during a Topeka Development Corporation meeting.

The presentation centered on a previously approved letter of intent (LOI) whose key terms, Arnold said, include rebranding the property under a Wyndham flag, a 10-year property tax exemption, issuance of an industrial revenue bond (IRB) and a retail sales tax exemption for materials used in the hotel’s rehabilitation. Braxton Copeland, deputy city manager, introduced the item as “discussion of the sale of Hotel Topeka.”

The nut of the proposal, Arnold told the TDC, is that Hotel Topeka must be renovated in concert with upgrades to the adjoining convention or conference center to restore the property’s ability to attract large meetings. “Absent a similar effort at the convention center portion of this property, we won’t be successful,” Arnold said, adding that the company has been discussing…