By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson City Manager Jeff Cantrell brought to the City Council as part of his report Tuesday new information on the Atrium Hotel.
"That's been boarded," Cantrell said. "That's great, because the neighbors had some concerns that we had people in the building and I think we might have even seen some evidence of that when we recently toured the building. Safety is first and foremost, but that's pretty poor when you drive by on the highway and you see plywood over such a large building. That's a very sad sight."
The current building owner, Joshua Joseph, is firm on what he wants for the hotel.
"It was $1.6 million," Cantrell said. "He's pretty firm on that amount. He really doesn't care how we amortize that out as long as it pays a competitive interest rate as to what his current note is. He is current on his note. That's pretty much already resolved as far as what our obligation would be to acquire the property. What's not so clear at this point is renewal and conversation with potential developers."
The pandemic has changed the dynamics of running hotels just as much as it has the rest of the economy.
"It's really interesting, when you try to get the pro forma now on these type of events and how they're being leveraged or collateralized," Cantrell said. "The discussion, the pledging on this sort of thing is really not conventional at this point at all. It will be a creative discussion, I'm sure."
Cantrell has had discussions with former city manager John Deardoff on the plan he had drawn up before his retirement and Cantrell plans to bring details of that back before the governing body in the coming weeks to see if there is an appetite to complete a purchase of the property, but he did not give a specific timeline in his report Tuesday.