Wichita Riverfront LP and EPC Real Estate LLC Announce Development Around Ballpark

WICHITA, Kansas – On December 21, the Wichita City Council unanimously approved an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Wichita Riverfront LP (WR LP) and EPC Real Estate Group LLC (EPC) as developers, heralding the beginning of development on land around Riverfront Stadium.

The MOU covers Phase One of the development which will include two of the four acres acquired by WR LP as part of the agreement to move the New Orleans Baby Cakes, now the Wichita Wind Surge, to Wichita. The initial plans include a full-service hotel along the riverfront and a Class A office building with ground-floor retail, restaurants, and an attached, 200-stall parking garage at the northwest intersection of Maple Street and McLean Blvd.

Construction is expected to begin next summer and be completed in the summer of 2024.

The development is much more aggressive than that set forth in the March 20, 2019, development agreement between the City and WR LP, exceeding the combined square footage contemplated in the first two phases of the original agreement.

Future phases on the remaining two acres include plans for more office and retail north of the new office building, restaurant sites to the north of the hotel, and a residential complex planned for the lot north of the stadium maintenance building on Texas Avenue. The site plan also includes a pedestrian bridge connecting the east and west banks of the river which was originally included in the plans to build Riverfront Stadium.

"Our goal with the development around the ballpark, like it was with a ballpark itself, is to exceed expectations and create a destination for decades to come," WR LP CEO Jordan Kobritz told the Wichita City Council.

This will not be the first development project in Wichita for EPC, based in Overland Park. Most recently, EPC opened the high-end 225 Sycamore apartment complex in Delano. The development includes over 200 apartments ranging from one to four bedrooms in a variety of floor plans.

"Through the evolution of that project (225 Sycamore) we've developed a great relationship with the Wind Surge," Austin Bradley, Executive Vice President of EPC, told the Council. "We quickly understood that the Wind Surge and EPC have similar visions for the Delano area as a whole."

"I'm very appreciate of Mr. Kobritz and Mr. Bradley bringing this revised phase and it's greater than what we anticipated," Council member Bryan Frye said prior to the 7-0 Council vote.