Agreement reached for city to buy derelict hotel near the Wichita River

Wichita Falls City Council members on Tuesday will vote on a measure to buy an abandoned multistory hotel near the falls on the Wichita River and tear it down.

The vote comes after the city reached a mediation agreement with the owner, Wichita Falls Hospitality, on July 1.

The agreement has the city paying $4 per square foot for land purchased.

Assistant City Manager Paul Menzies said the city is acquiring about 30-35 percent of the tract for public park space. That appears to put the price in the neighborhood of $735,000. The exact size and amount is yet to be determined after surveying.

In June, the city’s Sales Tax Board approved spending up to $835,000 to acquire the land for use as a public park. It is surrounded by property the city already owns.

Menzies said the city is acquiring an easement from an existing driveway to the public park space.

Wichita Falls Hospitality will retain ownership of one piece of commercial property.

According to Tuesday’s council agenda, If the council approves the agreement, the city would survey the property, hire a contractor to conduct an asbestos survey of the structure and seek bids for demolition.

Menzies said that could be within the next couple of months.

The Sales Tax Board would consider approving funds and bids for demolition.

Earlier efforts to buy the property failed, so in July 2023 the City Council voted to use the power of eminent domain to acquire it.

The operating owner, listed on tax records as Rajendra Patel, protested that the city had no right to take the property and a value determined by a special panel was "grossly inadequate."

He requested a jury trial on the issue, which was scheduled for Nov. 18.

According to Wichita Falls Municipal Court documents, Patel had incurred 233 class C misdemeanor warrants related to code violations on the property. He faced arrest and $299,818 in accumulated fines.

The owners appeared via Zoom video at the July 1 mediation meeting.

The 170-room hotel was built as a luxurious Sheraton in 1985. The City Council in 1983 authorized $10 million in industrial revenue bonds to build it. It was constructed in the floodway of the nearby Wichita River and has flooded several times.

After changing hands and names several times, it was abandoned in 2012 and has become a hangout for vandals, trespassers and YouTube urban explorers.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Agreement reached for city to buy derelict hotel near the Wichita River