TOPEKA (KSNT) - Topeka leaders are funneling more money into Hotel Topeka, while expecting a net loss next year.
For 2024, the city is looking at a $1.2 million net operating loss, according to Topeka Assistant City Manager Braxton Copley. At Tuesday's meeting, the Topeka Development Corporation (TDC) voted to adopt the 2025 Hotel Topeka budget with a net operating loss of $869,000. Topeka Development Corporation board members Christina Valdivia-Alcalá, Sylvia Ortiz and David Banks voted against the budget.
"It is what it is," Copley said. "It's not pretty, but I'm just being straight up honest with you. This is, in my opinion the best we're going to get in terms of our budget with the current condition of the hotel."
At Tuesday's City City Council meeting following the TDC meeting, the governing body voted to invest an additional $72,343.54 for additional operating funds. District 2 Councilwoman Valdivia-Alcalá, District 3 Councilwoman Ortiz and District 4 Councilman Banks voted against this item.
The hotel has cost the city nearly $10 million in total since the city bought it in October 2023. In July 2024, the TDC rejected one bid for Hotel Topeka. Director of Communications & Media Relations Dan Garrett told 27 News Tuesday, Dec. 10 that the City of Topeka has received four offers on Hotel Topeka.
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