Wichita city council members have approved the use of federal funding to help with a project to convert a hotel into an affordable housing project.
The city is working with HumanKind Ministries on the project. HumanKind will purchase the 316 Hotel at 1011 North Topeka and it will be transformed into a 56-unit complex that will be aimed at helping people who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless.
The 316 Hotel was constructed in 1998 and it was put up for sale earlier this year. The city will provide over $4.2 million in funding, coming from city project funding, federal block grant funds and from CARES Act funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HumanKind will also be soliciting private donations for the project.
HumanKind President and CEO Bill Williams said the project is a natural addition and expansion to the services provided by the agency, and he said it will directly impact hundreds of people over the next decade.
The project could be open as soon as January.
The city has also received a $1 million grant from the Department of Justice to provide additional resources for the North Broadway corridor, and vice mayor Cindy Claycomb said the 316 project will address a number of community needs and have an added benefit of reducing crime in the neighborhood.
[ photo: KWCH ]
