TOPEKA’S $17 MILLION HOTEL “MASTERPIECE” (CONSULTANT EDITION)
Because Paying $554,000 for Experts to Tell You “Maybe Don’t Run a Hotel Yourself” Was Peak Government Brilliance
Oh, Topeka. You never fail to impress. Back in May 2023, your fearless leaders at Visit Topeka and the Topeka Development Corporation gazed upon the struggling Hotel Topeka at City Center and proclaimed, “We’ve got this! Government will save the day!” They rolled out the fairy-tale projections like a bad infomercial: 50,000 room nights per year, $1 million in shiny new sales tax, $440,000 from Transient Guest Tax, and a magical $20 million annual economic impact that would turn the Expocentre into a cash-printing machine. “No taxpayer burden!” they swore. “This strengthens tourism!” Cue the standing ovation and the press releases. What could possibly go wrong?
Cut to October 31, 2023. Shawnee County deed 2023R16359 seals the deal: Topeka Development Corporation snags the land and building from Tucson Topeka LLC for a cool $7,668,750 (exact county record). Solid purchase, right? But why stop at buying a distressed hotel you’d never run before? Nah. They immediately dropped $554,000 on REVPAR International, a fancy Virginia consulting firm, to play hotel whisperer. Contract approved 8-2 by City Council. Scope? Asset management services, overall strategy, updated pro formas, branding advice, buyer hunting, technical pre-opening help, and the works.
And what did taxpayers get for that half-million-dollar expert wisdom? The “REVPAR International Summary Analysis of Hotel Topeka,” presented to the TDC Board on February 6, 2024. Here’s exactly what the report said: REVPAR International’s so-called “expertise” was the cherry on this taxpayer sundae of stupidity—the Virginia-based firm (founded in 1992 by Rick Pastorino
Market Study + Branding Analysis: Independent hotel? Meh. Branded hotel (they specifically modeled a Hilton DoubleTree) equals an $8 million incremental asset-value uplift.
Financial & ROI Analysis: Recommend about $10 million renovation plus branding. New owner by end of 2024, renovations in 2025, profits kick in 2026 thanks to loyalty programs, and a glorious 14.4 percent Return on Investment by 2031 (roughly 17 to 19 years of payback).
2024 Budget Review: Confirmed the place was a distressed mess, 33 to 34 percent occupancy, RevPAR around $35. Projected net operating loss of about $396,000 (which later ballooned toward $1.75 million).
Next Steps They Pushed: RFP or direct outreach to private owners and operators. “Let real hotel people handle this.”
In short: The $554,000 consultant report boiled down to “Spend millions fixing it up, slap on a brand, then sell it fast, or keep losing money forever.” Exactly what the private sector (Endeavor Hotel Group) is doing right now after buying it for $1 million in December 2025.
Add the rest of the taxpayer-funded circus: millions in operations, deferred maintenance, and $14 million in financing and interest carry. Grand total sunk? $18 million. Sold for $1 million. Net loss? $17 million, yours and mine, spread over the next 20 to 35 years via new taxes (that fresh 2 percent CID sales tax just approved, plus jacked-up Transient Guest Tax).
Let’s line it up nice and ugly, because the math doesn’t lie: In the 2023 projections, the dream was 50,000 room nights per year, but reality under city ownership and the $554,000 consultant advice delivered only about 24,500 room nights per year—cut in half. They promised $1 million in sales tax plus $440,000 from Transient Guest Tax every year, but we got zero revenue while the city subsidized millions instead—100 percent reversed. The projected $20 million annual economic impact turned into a total miss as conventions fled and the hotel bled cash. And the grand assurance of “Positive ROI, no burden” became a $17 million net loss after following the expert “advice” to do what private buyers are doing now. Peak clown show.
This wasn’t incompetence. This was a taxpayer-funded masterclass in why government should stay the hell out of private enterprise. They bought a hotel, paid consultants a fortune to confirm “yeah, this needs private hands and millions in fixes,” ignored the obvious by trying to run it themselves anyway, racked up $17 million in losses, then sold it cheap to the pros who are finally executing the consultant’s own plan.
Topeka, your leaders didn’t just waste $17 million. They proved the point with receipts: Cities don’t run hotels. They don’t magically create $20 million miracles. They hire consultants, build financial models, pat themselves on the back, and hand you the bill. Private businesses take the risk, chase the profits, and actually deliver.
Next time a “strategic investment” like this floats by? Do the smart thing: Check the Shawnee County deed, skip the consultant circus, and tell City Hall to stick to potholes and police. Your wallet just filed for bankruptcy protection.
REVPAR International’s so-called “expertise” was the cherry on this taxpayer sundae of stupidity—the Virginia-based firm (founded in 1992 by Rick Pastorino, the guy who brags about scrubbing toilets at Holiday Inns before racking up fancy degrees and claiming 35+ years and 4,500 hotel projects worldwide) got hired via Braxton Copley’s RFP push in June 2023, then pocketed $554,000 to basically tell Topeka what any idiot could see for free: “Hey, this place is a distressed 33% occupancy nightmare with $35 RevPAR—maybe brand it Hilton DoubleTree for an $8 million value pop, dump $10 million into renos, sell fast to real hotel people, and pray for 14.4% ROI by 2031.” Their February 2024 report was pure comedy gold: optimistic projections, next-step RFPs that dragged on forever, and zero actual turnaround help while the city kept bleeding $1.75 million a year. These out-of-town geniuses couldn’t stop the convention exodus, couldn’t force a quick sale before the losses exploded, and couldn’t prevent the city from ignoring their own advice long enough to turn a $7.67 million purchase into a $17 million black hole. In the end, their “master plan” was executed by the private buyer who actually did the renos and branding—exactly what Pastorino & Co. got paid a fortune to recommend but failed to make happen under government watch. Peak Topeka stupid: pay Virginia consultants a king’s ransom to spell out the obvious, watch them fail spectacularly, then blame everyone but the geniuses who couldn’t save a hotel from itself.
