HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Mayor Jade Piros de Carvalho said at least one hotel deal in Hutchinson is close to getting done.
"I am very excited about the conversations we've been having with a very proven developer who lives in Wichita," the mayor said. "In fact, we recently, I think on Tuesday, just had an executive session to kind of shore up the incentive package, so we should be voting on that, hopefully within the next month, which could put a new hotel in Hutchinson by 2024."
The mayor wouldn't give specifics on where the hotel would be.
"We think that this is going to be a really high quality product," the mayor said. "It's important to pick a good developer. We didn't necessarily make the right choice 15 years ago with the Atrium and so, we've just been very cautious about doing our due diligence. I know it's taking longer than anyone wants. We just want to make the right decision."
Right now, the city is going through code enforcement actions on the Atrium property, but if history in Hays is any guide, owner Joshua Joseph hasn't always treated governing bodies with deference when it comes to his properties.
"Time will tell if the developer will abide by those violation requests, or if we'll just have to take care of them ourselves and put them on the property tax bill," the mayor said.
The Atrium had 220 rooms at its peak. The proposed hotel would be around 100 rooms.