BIDS CLOSED: City claims Hotel Topeka for $7.6 million in online auction

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - The online auction for Hotel Topeka has ended on its third day with a winning bid of $7.5 million from the City of Topeka.

The opening bid for the auction on Monday, June 5, started at $2 million and increased to $3.5 million on Tuesday afternoon. Just before 6 p.m., the bid reached $4 million.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the bids closed at $7.6 million with the reserve met.

The Shawnee Co. Appraiser has assessed the hotel’s actual value to be about $3 million for 2023. However, the City of Topeka is poised to spend about $8 million in bonds to acquire the property.

“It wouldn’t do us any good to say what that upper limit was given the fact that it is an auction but we’re being very careful with taxpayer money,” said City manager Steven Wade. “We’ve looked at it closely and we think that we know what makes sense and we’re going to make sure that we stay at or below that threshold.”

The auction closed at 1 p.m. and the City of Topeka announced at 1:25 that it put in the winning bid of $7.6 million. Purchase documents are still being finalized, which means the sale is not yet complete.

On May 30, the governing body authorized $8 million in bonds to buy the hotel. The City said its intent is to bond the purchase price for the hotel and work with private partners and industry experts to decide how to best proceed with re-developing the property.

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