Re: Hotel Topeka, $18.35 Million, and Why No One Has Been Held Accountable

An Open Letter to the Topeka City Council, the City Manager's Office, and the Citizens of Topeka

I'm writing to put the full Hotel Topeka story on the record in one place, so every taxpayer in this city can see what happened and ask the questions City Hall has not answered.

The short answer

The Deputy City Manager who ran this project, Braxton Copley, is retiring in 2027 with public praise. He was not fired. No one has been fired, censured, or held responsible in any way for what has become one of the costliest decisions in recent city history. Here's how we got here.

1. The purchase

In June 2023, the city bought Hotel Topeka at auction for $7.6 million after an emergency meeting. The Shawnee County appraiser had valued the property at about $3 million. Two council members voted no. One of them, Christina Valdivia-Alcalá, said publicly that the process was rushed and not transparent. From the very first day, the city paid more than double the appraised value for a property it had no experience running.

2. The consultant

In October 2023, the city hired REVPAR International, chosen from 14 firms, to develop a strategy, pick a brand and manager, and handle pre-opening services. The council approved up to $372,300 plus about $144,000 a year in asset-management fees, a listed budget impact of $516,300. I've seen reports that the final bill came to roughly $554,000. I'm asking the city to confirm that figure by releasing the invoices. Whatever the exact total, taxpayers deserve to know what half a million dollars bought them, because the hotel was ultimately sold off anyway.

3. The $7.6 million offer that disappeared

In April 2024, a buyer named Irshad Chatta raised his offer for the hotel from $6 million to $7.6 million, with $1.5 million down. He also promised significant renovations and a recognized hotel brand. That offer would have returned the city's entire purchase price. The talks were held in closed session. The city described negotiations only as "in flux," and that deal never closed. To this day, there has been no public vote and no public explanation of why. In July 2024, the council did vote 8-1 to reject a different bidder, 1717 Realty. In all, the city received six bids in 2024. Meanwhile, the city spent about $1.2 million that year just keeping the hotel running.

4. The money kept flowing

By February 2024, the $500,000 the city had set aside for the hotel was largely gone. That April, the capital plan set aside $9.374 million in bonds for the hotel. In January 2025, even a $32,192 elevator repair barely passed, 6-4. In November 2025, the hotel board approved a 2026 budget projecting another $1.75 million loss.

5. The $1 million sale

In July 2026, the city sold Hotel Topeka to Endeavor Hotel Group for $1 million in cash, with a unanimous vote by the hotel board. Endeavor committed about $6 million to renovations and about $2 million to operations. Those are investments in Endeavor's own property, not repayment to the taxpayers. The city says it will recover $11.2 million over the next 20 to 30 years through hotel guest taxes and special-district taxes.

6. The real cost

As of May 2026, the city had spent $18,350,135.96 on this hotel. The city's recovery plan only covers the $12.2 million spent through mid-2025. That leaves roughly $6 million spent after that point with no clear plan to get it back. And even the $11.2 million that is supposedly coming back depends on decades of tax revenue that may or may not materialize. A city that paid $7.6 million, turned away a $7.6 million offer, and then sold for $1 million should not be asking taxpayers to wait 30 years to find out how much they lost.

7. Why no one was held accountable

Every major step went through the elected council or its hotel board, usually by wide margins. That includes the purchase, the consultant, the budgets, and the final sale. The City Manager's office called selling the hotel a top priority. Mr. Copley brought these deals and budgets forward as the project manager. Under our council–manager system, the council answers to voters and the city manager answers to the council. That means everyone with the authority to hold someone accountable had also signed off on the decisions. Firing the man who ran the project would have meant admitting the mistake belonged to all of them. So instead, he gets a retirement with praise, and the bill goes to the taxpayers.

I want to recognize the council members who repeatedly asked hard questions and voted against parts of this project: Christina Valdivia-Alcalá, David Banks, Marcus Miller, and Sylvia Ortiz.

What I'm asking for

1. A public explanation of why the $7.6 million offer from Irshad Chatta did not close, and who made that call.
2. A full, itemized accounting of the $18.35 million, including every consultant invoice from REVPAR International.
3. A written plan for how and when the money spent after mid-2025 will be repaid, with yearly tax-recovery figures published so the public can track it.
4. A formal review of how the city handled this project, by an independent party, before the city takes on any similar venture again.

Topeka taxpayers paid for every dollar of this. At a minimum, they're owed the truth about where it went and why no one was held responsible.

Respectfully,

Henry McClure
(762) 291-2765