NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce CEO Debra Teufel talked to Hutch Post about the vision for the Atrium Hotel property.
"We have been anxious to see more development along the K-61 corridor and a repurposing of the former Atrium site for a very long time going on five years," Teufel said. "You know when Joshua Joseph came to the podium at City Council recently, he talked about and rehashed some of that history, but the reality is you know he had an opportunity to come to the city several years ago when they issued an RFP for new hotel development. He had a concept then, but the concept was to build a new Holiday Inn out on the frontage and not really deal with the blight that exists in the existing building. That was really why that project wasn't selected by the city at the time. It was it was just too little of a plan to to take care of the blight. What we want to see is that blighted building gone."
Once the building is gone, there are lots of directions the property could go.
"I think that if Joshua would clean up the property he still, and if he would bear the cost for it, he would still have a very marketable property for a new hotel," Teufel said. "If he would just clean up the blight that he has there today, we would welcome a new hotel product there. I don't know that he's going to be in a position to do that, but that's what we would like to see is some sort of new hotel product. We've also had some inquiries in the last six months for large furniture retailers and also large sporting good retailers that see Hutchinson as a good growth opportunity. They too would like to identify real estate along the 61 corridor, so there are any number of things like that that I could see happen on along there."
Teufel sees the city's actions as appropriate.
I think, you know, he's going to say the city's being opportunistic, but the fact is he's waited five years or longer to really take care of that property, and so the city is having to take these measures," Teufel said. "He still has the opportunity within the next, the clock's ticking, but it was within 30 days, to come up with a plan for demolition. If he would come up with that plan, he would still have title to that property and it is a valuable asset. But, you know, it's kind of in his hands at this point to make the right move, but it also has to be cleaned up in the right way because there is asbestos present there. There is black mold in the facility. It is a danger to that neighborhood."
The City Council will next take a look at the situation on Oct. 1.