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The Story of the Wichita WaterWalk

Overpromised and underdelivered.

That is the story of the Wichita Waterwalk.

Most people probably don’t even know the difference between what is and what should have been. That was me before I dove deep to be honest.

But as I dive into the history of the original plan of the Wichita Waterwalk by the Hyatt downtown, I want to ask one simple question…

What went wrong with Wichita Waterwalk?

Let’s start with what is the WaterWalk Today.

Wichita Waterwalk

Let’s take a look at the blurb from Visit Wichita:

“WaterWalk is a premier multi-use development located in the heart of downtown Wichita. Luxury condominiums, offices and a Marriott hotel anchor the development. Visitors and tenants can enjoy the tranquility offered in our beautiful courtyard complete with walking paths, ponds and a gazebo all located within steps of Century ll Performing Arts & Convention Center. Concerts, shows and sports events are only a short walk away at INTRUST Bank Arena.

The shopping, food and nightlife of the Old Town and Delano districts are just a short drive or ride away on the O-Line. Perhaps the most spectacular display in Wichita happens at the Fountains at WaterWalk. This multimillion dollar light, music and water display is the perfect end to a perfect day.”

In other words, it consists of:

• “WaterWalk” Extended Stay by Wyndham Hotel Apartments just south of Riverfront Stadium, next to the Wichita Ice Center

• The East bank land by the Hyatt that includes the Fountains at WaterWalk

• The building formerly known as Gander Mountain that is now the home to King of Frieght

• WaterWalk Place Residences that has 46 condos and houses businesses such as Visit Wichita, financial planning, insurance, and others

The Fountains at the Wichita Waterwalk

A couple of years back, we wrote a deep dive on the Fountains.

You can see a light and water show on the weekends from May to October.

Now let’s rewind to how this area was developed.

Timeline of Development

1988

Even back in 1988, Wichita knew we needed to build an east-bank waterwalk from Kellogg to Douglas.

1995

The City of Wichita continued to talk about building a walkway along the east bank as well as a proposed hotel.

May 1996

Wichita was moving and grooving, they had momentum and stuff started getting done. “the level of nay-saying, once one of Wichita’s worst features” had sunk to a new low. It seems we have stopped back into this a bit.

2002

Back in 2002, a partnership between Johnson & Associates and RiverWalk, LLC created a Master Plan for the vision of developing the area on the East Bank of the Ar-Kansas River.

25% of the WaterWalk’s “adjusted net cash flow” was to go to the City from the developer. Since the development began, only $1 / year is paid to the City from the developer based a 99-year lease (goes until 2101) that allows them full development rights to the ~29 acres of city-owned land.

$30.9 million was initially committed to the project from the City until that number rose to ~$41 million. The total cost of the project was closer to $130 million and was called / hoped to be “Wichita’s next great gathering place” with entertainment, retail and more.

2003

Mayor Carlos Mayans pulled $3 million from original funding that may have cost us the Bass Pro Shops. There are additional details in 2004 regarding a STAR bond. This is above my pay grade and I don’t completely understand it, but I digress.

2007

Gander Mountain opens.

October 2009

Jack DeBoer’s Consolidated Holdings bought controlling interest from his partners and the city announces no more public funding will be given (the $41 million mentioned above).

March 2017

Gander Mountain (out of St. Paul, Minnesota) filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed 32 stores nationwide, while choosing to keep the Wichita store open.

May 2017

Fast forward just two months and Gander Mountain decided to close all of its stores, INCLUDING Wichita.

March 2019

Talks started to see what business would backfill the Gander Mountain building. There were rumors of “700 jobs” coming into the building. The owner of the building, Jack DeBoer, was not aware of this number of jobs coming into the building as the company in talks wasn’t close to that many employees (confirmed by an Eagle independent contact).

DeBoer wanted to refigure the building as “an office building with views of the river” by opening up the backside. He had also turned down ideas to include in the WaterWalk such as a bar. 🙄

You can see some reactions of the time from reddit here:

I’ve covered how we can better use our river a couple of times:

• Deep dive looking at other cities with rivers

• The Wichita Boathouse: The Past & The Future

May 2019

King of Freight gets the go ahead to renovate Gander Mountain. At the time, they had approximately 535 employees in Wichita and were rapidly expanding.

Summer 2020

DeBoer decided not to build a 5 story, 115k sq-ft office building that was planned at the SW corner of Waterman and Main St.

October 2020

Gateway Apartments luxury complex was announced aptly named as it was on Main St off Kellogg as a “gateway to downtown”. Construction was delayed after initially planned for January 2021 due to financing.

March 2021

Jack DeBoer passed away at the age of 90 years old.

March 2023

The $40 million luxury Gateway Apartments complex that was planned was canned in favor of the growing “WaterWalk hotel brand” that had 10 hotels nationwide as of March 2023, including one in Wichita across form Riverfront stadium. The future plans in Wichita for Gateway are “on-hold”

What was Promised vs What we Got

You likely now have an idea of what we currently have at WaterWalk. Maybe you’ve used that parking lot for Final Friday at the Boathouse or a baseball game, been to a food truck rally, or went for a fountain show.

You also have an idea of how this project was scaled back, but let’s touch on that a bit more.

You would be hard-pressed to say the WaterWalk area lived up to the original dream of apartments, small business, upscale dinning, entertainment, and shopping.

We wanted a Bass Pro Shops, but instead got a Gander Mountain, and now nothing (this isn’t a shot at King of Freight, just a statement about no shop in that spot).

We were supposed to get a large outdoor amphitheater and canal boats (like the San Antonio River Walk), instead we got a small floating stage and the dancing fountains.

Instead of an area we should be proud of, we have an area that you likely don’t recommend to people who come into town (unless of course it’s to Riverfront Stadium for parking).

I don’t know who is to blame for the lack of vision coming to fruition, but I do know that Wichita can do better and that Wichita deserves better.

Original rendering:

What do you want to see us go deep on in a future deep dive?

Let us know!