Nearly 20 years in the making, ground breaks on riverfront hotel in downtown Wichita

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - The City of Wichita has been working to develop the west bank of the Arkansas River for nearly two decades.

On Thursday, city leaders celebrated the groundbreaking of a long-discussed riverfront hotel, set to open in early 2028.

Ground broke on what will become the Wichita Tribute Hotel. It w ill have 160 rooms, a rooftop restaurant, a riverfront bar and other amenities.

If you’ve lived in Wichita for any amount of time, you probably know that these plans didn’t come together overnight. This project is beginning nearly 20 years after the city approved a Star Bond district along the riverfront.

Those unfulfilled ideas are in the past as Wichita mayor Lily Wu focuses on the present and future of downtown development.

“It’s about continuing the momentum we’re seeing in downtown Wichita and taking another step toward the future of the ballpark district and the west bank of the Arkansas River,” Wu said.

The city has seen some development since the Star Bond district was created in 2008, including Equity Bank park near where the old Lawrence-Dumont Stadium once stood at Maple and McLean.

But a long-discussed riverfront hotel seemed stuck in development limbo for years.

Bryan Frye was on Wichita’s City Council when the hotel plans were approved in 2022. He points to roadblocks such as the Covid pandemic, Boeing 737 issues and the economy for why this project took so long.

“It’s business, it’s free enterprise,” Frye said. “Those are things that are going to delay projects sometimes. So as frustrating as it may be, we’re here now.”

That’s the attitude city leaders are taking forward.

“Today is not the fulfillment of a promise; it’s the beginning of one,” Wichita vice mayor Dalton Glasscock said.

Glasscock said the community has waited a long time to see the hotel project move forward, but it’s not necessarily the moment the city has anticipated most.

“That moment comes when the first guest checks into the hotel,” Glasscock said. “It comes when a family walks across the street after a Wind Surge game and spends the night in Delano.”