6 June 2023
TOPEKA (KSNT) – The City of Topeka plans to further discuss purchasing Hotel Topeka at Tuesday night’s council meeting. Documents obtained by KSNT 27 News show city council members have approved the city manager to purchase the hotel for up to $8 million.
The city intends to use municipal bonds to bid and possibly purchase Hotel Topeka. Last week, the governing body held a surprise virtual meeting, where it voted and approved engaging in the online auction hosted by Ten-X.
The online auction began Monday, June 6 with a starting bid of $2 million, according to Ten-X’s website. As of Tuesday afternoon, the bidding sits at $3 million but has not yet hit the reserve amount for the hotel to sell. The auction will conclude at 1 p.m. Wednesday. Hotel Topeka has been under court-appointed receivership since June 2021, according to the website, ultimately leading to its auction.
The City of Topeka’s spokeswoman Gretchen Spiker previously said if the purchase of the hotel is successful, private partners and industry experts will decide how to best redevelop the property. The building’s appraised value decreased dramatically from 2022 to 2023, according to the Shawnee County Appraiser’s website.
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