Peter Rugg (The Pitch) — Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser ripped the idea of developing a convention hotel during a press conference today at the corner of 14th Street and Baltimore — finally taking a stand on the issue after months of speculation.
“My first thought, the only thought that sticks with me, is ‘Are you kidding me?’” Funkhouser said of the downtown convention hotel plan with a potential price tag of $315 million.
Supporters say investing in a new hotel near Bartle Hall could bring the city millions of dollars in convention business that the city can’t compete for since downtown doesn’t have enough hotel rooms.
Funkhouser wasn’t buying it, citing the failure of similar proposals around the country, including the Sheraton Overland Park Hotel, which performed so far below expectations that the city had to throw in $2.4 million of its own money to appease bondholders last year (see this June 3 Martin column).
“Hotels have failed across the country,” Funkhouser said. “There is no scenario I can imagine that says now is the right time to do this.”
Funkhouser added that the city is not in a position financially to buy the building. Even if the city did have the money, buying the hotel would only further complicate selling the property to another developer. That’s especially problematic at time when the city is courting outside developers to buy and renew old properties.
Funkhouser also took city leaders to task for focusing on elaborate ways to make Kansas City more attractive. Funk said the only way to do that was to clean up the streets and make sure basic services are provided.
“We keep swinging for fences, looking for these glittery projects, and it doesn’t work for us,” he said.
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