Downtown Wichita has jumped from the drawing board into a crackling reality, spurred by more than $800 million in development in the last decade – and a gusher of new projects continues.

Major companies including Cargill and Airbus are bringing top-level research and engineering jobs to the city core. The $205 million INTRUST Bank Arena is drawing crowds of 15,000 for concerts, shows and events, while the YMCA is building a new $23 million facility downtown.

New Hotels, Residential Developments

Building on efforts launched 20 years ago with Old Town Wichita, a spate of new projects is shaping the downtown area. New hotels include the $29 million Drury Plaza Broadview and the possibility of a new boutique hotel located in the heart of downtown. Residential developments such as Finn Lofts and Flats are giving downtown more living options, and the mixed-use WaterWalk project – featuring the new Fairfield Inn, commercial and residential space, plazas and gardens and destination retail/restaurant locations along the Arkansas River – is adding to downtown's vibe.

“It’s an exciting time,” says major downtown Wichita developer Dave Burk, owner of Marketplace Properties and the primary developer behind Old Town, the city’s first modern foray into rediscovering its urban roots.

“Downtown is a specialty area where people live, work and play," he says. "The convention business just gets better and better and we have millions of dollars invested in recently completed and new projects. We have great momentum, like a giant ball rolling down a hill. Downtown is the heart of the community; it’s where the community was actually created.”

Project Downtown

Underpinning all this momentum is Project Downtown, a comprehensive master plan created through a public/private partnership of the city, the Wichita Downtown Development Corp. (WDDC) and the private sector.

“We specified that we wanted a master plan built upon economics,” says Jeff Fluhr, president of the WDDC. “When we executed the market analysis, we found there is growth potential in hospitality, retail, commercial and residential development. The master plan brings predictability to downtown's development. With everything we do we continue to solidify the economic environment of our downtown to be vibrant and build upon those economic strategies.”

It isn’t just retail and hospitality that’s driving downtown: Cargill is downtown’s largest private-sector employer and opened its $15 million Innovation Center research facility in summer 2011. Airbus, with its 10-year downtown Wichita aircraft-wing design center, recently completed a $2.5 million expansion for in-service repair across the street from its current operations in the former Kansas Sports Hall of Fame (now relocated to the Wichita Boathouse) working through Marketplace Properties developer Burk.

“They wanted something unusual for an office environment, and this worked well for them,” Burk explains.

Now Airbus occupies 70,000 square feet of space on two sides of North Mead Street and houses a workforce with an annual payroll of $40 million.

“When we originally moved into the area, it was into four dilapidated buildings that we’ve completely renovated,” says John O’Leary, vice president of engineering for Airbus Americas. “When the hall of fame space became available, it was the perfect solution for us to get the extra space we needed. Today, 300 people work in our downtown offices. The Old Town environment has helped us tremendously. It has been a good environment and a good place to work.”

For a true 24/7 urban environment, residential development is crucial, and demand has driven development of more than 4,600 units within a one-mile radius of the city center.

For seven-year resident Charlie Claycomb, living downtown is almost like being on vacation.

“I like being able to walk everywhere – to dinner, church, entertainment,” Claycomb, who also serves as Old Town Association president, says. “We just think it’s fun.”