Three months into renovations, the Ambassador Hotel is starting to take shape.
The upscale, boutique hotel will fill one of Wichita's historic downtown buildings, that has set empty for 12 years.
But the process isn't without a little controversy. The hotel was offered an incentive by the city that would allow them to keep 75% of the guest tax it charges. Something that didn't sit well with all of Wichita.
"Taxation is a public function. It should be used for things that the public benefits from, not just one single person, or group of people, as it is in this case," explains Bob Weeks.
He helped launch "Tax Fairness for all Wichitans" on Thursday. Since it will be up to Wichita voters, in a special election, to decide whether the hotel gets the incentive, the group is starting a "vote no" campaign.
Weeks adds, "Gravy is what I think we're really talking about. The hotel appears it's going to be built, it's going to be in existence, jobs will be created. It's just how much profit, at the expense of tax payers, Mr. Coury, Mr. Burke and Mr. Wells, and the other hotel developers, will be seeing."
But developers say the incentive is one of the big reasons they chose Wichita, and taking that away will send the wrong message to any future developers wanting to bring new business to the area.
Developer, Paul Coury, tells Eyewitness News, "I think it's an important precedent for Wichita to not let groups like this basically second guess the elected officials and say 'we know more.'"
Coury says his research shows that when a city invests in a project like this, the return is three to one.
But it's going to come down to voters to decide which side they side with.
