Kansas City convention center hotel project gets two more participants

The Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority on Wednesday approved the selection of a bond counsel firm and an appraisal company for Kansas City’s proposed downtown convention center hotel development.

The law firms of Kutak Rock and Hardwick were selected in closed session over other unnamed bond counsel firms that answered LCRA’s request for proposals. The authority said it received applications from three bond counsel firms plus a joint proposal from two other firms.

Also in closed session, the appraisal company of Bliss Associates was hired over one other bid to provide services in connection with the hotel project’s potential acquisition of property.

The city and the hotel development team continue in negotiations to acquire property owned by the American Hereford Association, whose building needs to be razed to make way for the proposed hotel.

LCRA is involved in the deal as the owner of the planned hotel tower under a sale-leaseback agreement with the private owners assembled by the KC Hotel Developers LCC development team. LCRA commissioners also gave formal “redeveloper” approval to that group, which has been the only team pursuing the hotel project.

The authority previously hired Stifel Nicolaus & Co. to underwrite bonds that the authority will issue to help cover construction costs on the hotel. LCRA is expected to issue up to $160 million in bonds for the $311 million hotel project.

The plan calls for the bonds to be repaid with tax increment financing revenues over 30 years and special tax revenues generated by the hotel over 23 years.

LCRA board member Gabriel Okafor expressed concern that all participants in the hotel project — construction and professional services alike — open their searches for qualified minority-owned and women-owned business participation in the project.

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 2:58 PM with the headline "Kansas City convention center hotel project gets two more participants."