Councilman Marcus Miller discusses Hotel Topeka deals

TOPEKA (KSNT) – Topeka City Councilmember Marcus Miller joined the 27 News Morning show and answered questions about the council’s progress on the sale of Hotel Topeka.

Miller said that signing a deal with Endeavor Hotel Group is likely the direction the City Council will go.

“Hoping all the parties and everyone involved, agencies come together to make this happen,” Miller said.

There have been several offers made on Hotel Topeka. 27 News asked why the deal with Endeavor Hotel Group is moving forward. Miller said that the council wanted to make sure that the city gets the most money out of the deal as possible.

“Again this isn’t a situation that none of us necessarily wanted to be in, but we are,” Miller said. “I mean I know for sure, I wasn’t there. But I’m not putting the blame on the past council.”

Miller said the Hotel Topeka dealings hasn’t been smooth but that the city would get the majority of the tax dollars back by the end of the deal.

27 News asked about another offer made on Hotel Topeka by 1717 Realty Corp for $2 million that would see the hotel branded as a Wyndham Hotel. In July, the City of Topeka rejected the offer. Miller was the only councilmember to vote against rejecting the offer.

“It probably didn’t provide enough long-term,” Miller said. “Because that was my thing was trying to get as much tax dollars back as possible. It may have been less up front but long term it wasn’t as much money back.”

The Letter of Intent is contingent upon Shawnee County agreeing to provide Endeavor with a long-term management agreement for the nearby Maner Conference Center along with the county investing around $6 million in the rehabilitation of the center. We asked what would happen if the county doesn’t invest the $6 million.

“Then we address it as it comes across,” Miller said. “I’m not going to put that on the county. I think there’s some times where its easy to throw a softball and lob back and forth, and I don’t like doing that.”

On Tuesday, city leaders heard from Endeavor CEO Roy Arnold on the group’s plans for the hotel. The city has spent $12.2 million on the hotel since purchasing it in 2023.

City leaders in the Topeka Development Corporation (TDC) cast eight votes in favor of allowing the city manager to sign the letter of intent on July 15. One member of the TDC abstained from the vote.

The City of Topeka said Endeavor Hotel Group plans to purchase the hotel for $1 million with the rest of the city’s investment into the building being paid off through taxes raised by a community improvement district (CID) and transient guest tax (TGT) over the next 20 years, according to the city’s press release.

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