Two stories about this historic 1914 Classical Revival building, which has lots of potential and a role to play (again)in the reviatlization and economy of Wichita, decades after passenger rail service endded here in 1979.
From the Wichita Eagle, published Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012:
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Union Station still on the market
Still on the market, Union Station is a key ‘connector’ in downtown Wichita Historic building links downtown to arena; city’s past, future
It is the iconic piece of real estate in the drive to revitalize Wichita’s downtown: a historic train station that once was the front door to a growing city.
Yet five years after Union Station went on the market at 701 E. Douglas, the ornate, cavernous train station and its 110,000- square-foot campus remains unsold. It’s a potential-filled – yet costly – project that could tie Old Town and Intrust Bank Arena together, or keep them apart if developers and city officials can’t work out a plan to revitalize the historic building.
The building’s owners, Atlanta-based Cox Communications, say nothing has changed: The company remains committed to getting the century-old campus into the hands of a developer who will integrate it into the revival of the Douglas Avenue corridor.
“We recognize that the building is an important piece of Wichita’s history,” Cox spokeswoman Sarah Kaufman said. “It’s our hope to pass it on to someone who will see its potential and develop it as a key piece of downtown moving forward.”
But starting that momentum won’t be easy; the project will be costly – it currently is listed at more than $6.million – and it will likely require a long-term public-private partnership to be financially viable, developers say.
But if that partnership can be forged, it might not be long until Union Station’s future is solidified, those developers say.
“Frankly, I think the real opportunity and challenge for Union Station is its scale,” said David Dixon, the Boston-based consultant who led the planning for Project Downtown, the city’s comprehensive plan for downtown revitalization.
“It offers a unique opportunity to create a vibrant mixed-use environment that could be highly competitive and significantly expand the market for downtown living and working.”
But Dixon cautions critics against comparing Union Station to suburban developments like NewMarket Square or the Waterfront.
“All this will require deep pockets and patient capital,” he said. “And probably a long-term public-private partnership that envisions 10-plus years of expanding development.”
The reason for the partnership is simple, said Occidental Management’s Gary Oborny, a longtime local and regional developer with experience in retrofits and new construction: cost. Oborny estimates that the revival of any historic structure will cost between 20 and 30 percent more than a new construction project.
“There are a lot of limitations and regulations that have to be met when you’re dealing with a historic structure,” he said. “That’s expensive, and when you tap into a building already on the historic register, it isn’t a choice. You do it by the regulations or you don’t do it at all.”
Union Station’s role
The train station’s future is as a connector, said Jeff Fluhr, president of the Greater Wichita Downtown Development Corp., who’s leading the drive to lure businesses and residents downtown.
“It is part of that connective fabric of downtown with Old Town to the north, Intrust Bank Arena to the south and Douglas as the arterial between the two,” Fluhr said. “This building is in position to be a connector, if you will, between two major anchors in our downtown with some great opportunities for unique uses.”
The roadmap for Union’s Station’s future is found in the blueprint of Old Town, Fluhr said, which is made up of three roughly equal parts: residential space, commercial space and destination entertainment, like restaurants, retailers and hospitality.
“Urban centers don’t operate in silos,” Fluhr said. “If they’re viable, the uses interact with each other.
“So when you look at Old Town, the footprint here at Union Station can become … an extension of those viable uses that we see complementing Old Town to the north – commercial into the day, residents into the evening and mornings, and the other destination anchors drawing people into our area.”
The building is replete with some interesting history-based opportunities to link downtown Wichita’s past with its future. Perhaps the most obvious is a restaurant in the space once occupied by one of America’s first concept restaurateurs, The Fred Harvey Co.
And the infrastructure is in place if high-speed rail returns. But Fluhr was clear: Any decision on rail service as a component of Union Station’s use will be up to the developer.
Union Station finds itself in the middle of some momentum downtown, with some projects completed, others planned and the future of the Douglas Avenue corridor drifting into focus.
“What you’re seeing happen in Wichita is the market strengthening each month,” Fluhr said. “We saw $60.million in projects open last year and $94.million that started in 2011 carrying forward into this year.
“Part of what happens with buildings of this nature is a patient capital component. But I think we’re nearing the opportunity to see something happen here. There’s activity along Douglas, activity north of this building. I think the probability continues to increase that we’ll see something happen here soon.”
Possible obstacles
But there are some significant barriers to revitalizing the old train station.
First is the price, which remains on LoopNet at $6.42 million, although officials think it can be had for at least a million dollars less. The current price is too steep to make the deal profitable, several potential bidders say.
And then there’s the building itself: The city added a mezzanine years ago to make the building attractive as a two-story office complex instead of a cavernous train station with thousands of square feet of wasted space off the floor. That mezzanine has no use to Union Station’s future, Fluhr said, so any buyer faces their own costly dilemma of creating a second floor of usable space.
Finally, there is the controversial subject of tax credits for historic renovation. With the state of Kansas’ program set to sunset this summer and Gov. Sam Brownback proposing their elimination, the death of those credits could spell the end of any short-term plans to revitalize Union Station.
Occidental President Chad Stafford said the city – and the state – can’t afford to lose a valuable economic tool.
“Without the tax credits, it doesn’t make financial or economic sense to do these deals,” he said.
“When you have companies looking at us from the outside, one of the factors they’re going to consider is how vibrant downtown is. We’ve seen things happen downtown, vibrant things, and momentum has been created downtown. The tax credit piece is key from the economic development standpoint.”
Dixon, the downtown consultant, agreed.
“The historic tax credit is much more critical … for the stock of older downtown buildings that don’t come with significant developable land,” he said.
“Losing the credit would likely delay development until downtown values rise because development of (Union Station) … itself would be significantly more expensive and harder to finance.”
‘Structurally sound’
The building, which has been vacant since Cox left almost five years ago, isn’t falling apart. During an Eagle tour last week, the only observable issues were some peeling paint in spots.
“It’s a structurally sound building, and Cox has done a great job maintaining it,” said Patrick Ahern of Grubb & Ellis/Martens Commercial Group, which is brokering the property for Cox.
And Cox has no plans to back off that commitment soon, said Paul Shaw, director of risk, safety, security and facilities for Cox’s central region.
“We’re protecting an asset,” Shaw said. “We currently have employees here routinely to make sure the building isn’t deteriorating. With a vacant building, we certainly understand the concerns about that.”
The company also has maintained full power, heat and water.
Other sale efforts
The building went on the market in the spring of 2008, about a year after Cox left for bigger offices at 901 George Washington Blvd.
A deal in 2009 to sell the building to a Clay Center investor fell through in a dispute over parking. Businessman Phil Frigon’s $5.5 million deal to buy the campus collapsed when he failed to reach an agreement for the city to lease parking from him for Intrust Bank Arena.
Also included as part of the property for sale are the old Rock Island depot and baggage facility, and the old Wichita Grand Hotel, once occupied by Sullivan Higdon and Sink before becoming Cox Media." [end]
A year later, Union Station was in the Wichita Eagle again. Published Friday, Feb. 1, 2013: (
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Developer seals deal to buy Union Station in downtown Wichita
Union Station, the centerpiece of the city’s plan to redevelop downtown Wichita, was sold on Friday to a prominent local developer.
Gary Oborny, who heads Wichita’s Occidental Management, and his partner Chad Stafford closed Friday afternoon on the historic train station, acquiring it from Cox Communications. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Oborny plans to transform the building into a multimillion-dollar destination attraction, including retail, restaurants and potentially hospitality and office space – a key business generator for Project Downtown, the city’s master plan for revitalization.
“Obviously, already people understand what we have going downtown, see the opportunities we have, and they’re making investments,” Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer said.
“It’s a good day,” said Jeff Fluhr, president of the Wichita Downtown Development Corp., who called the transaction a key in the 2-year-old downtown master plan.
“We have a developer in Oborny with a track record of success in adaptive reuse (converting buildings), and an iconic structure that means a lot to the community,” Fluhr said. “To have it back viable in the community is a tremendous boost to our efforts. This is at the core of creating a strong Douglas Street corridor that will lead to future important projects to its north and south.”
The deal wraps up more than four years of sale negotiations with various potential buyers, including at least one failed deal. NAI Martens of Wichita represented Cox Communications in the transaction.
Oborny’s firm, best known locally for its work developing retail space and converting structures into top-level office space, has been pursuing the building for at least a year.
The announcement was good news to several other city officials on Friday.
“That’s just great news, very exciting news,” City Manager Robert Layton said. “And the best news about this is that the building’s going to be in the hands of a company that’s a proven developer in town. We are very excited about what Gary and Chad (company president Stafford) can do there.”
Wichita City Council member Pete Meitzner said reviving Union Station removes a big obstacle to the revitalization of downtown Wichita.
“It’s an extension of Old Town,” Meitzner said, “literally right across the street. If we are to be successful in the future landing passenger rail, I’m sure the city and the region will have a great partner with Gary Oborny’s group to welcome Amtrak to downtown.”
Wichita attorney Tom Docking, the former chairman of the WDDC, called the building an “iconic foundation” of downtown Wichita’s future.
“That’s just spectacular news for downtown and the entire region,” Docking said. “It is a beautiful facility and a great location to attract tons of people for whatever uses he may have in mind, especially if it can tie into the eventual revival of passenger rail in Wichita.”
Layton said Friday’s announcement will be a valuable tool as city officials continue marketing downtown space, and will be the impetus for further development near the train station.
“This is an extremely important project,” the city manager said. “We’ve seen a lot of important development downtown without that space being renovated or reused already. When we can get Union Station into development, it’s going to help with the Spaghetti Works, the area around the park. There’s an important linkage there that we can trigger.”
A deal in 2009 to sell the building to a Clay Center investor fell through in a dispute over parking.
Businessman Phil Frigon’s $5.5?million deal to buy the campus fell through when he failed to lease parking to the city for Intrust Bank Arena.
The building went on the market in spring 2008, about a year after Cox vacated the building for bigger offices at 901 George Washington Blvd.
Also included are the old Rock Island depot and baggage facility – formerly Tanya’s Soup Kitchen – and the old Wichita Grand Hotel, once occupied by Sullivan Higdon and Sink before becoming Cox Media.
The Rock Island depot, designed by J.T. Long, was built in 1887. Union Station opened March 8, 1914.
Train traffic ended at Union Station in 1979. The building sat empty until December 1982, when Multimedia Cablevision bought it and spent $3 million on an office remodel." [end]