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TOPEKA — Aim Strategies LLC, in partnership with Liberty Group Inc., announced plans today to renovate four historic downtown Topeka buildings into a boutique hotel and restaurant.

Cody Foster, founder of Aim Strategies, contacted Chuck Comeau, president of Liberty Group, after the development of the Chestnut Street District in downtown Hays. Foster ultimately selected Liberty Group to oversee the restoration and the branding of the new space that will become the Cyrus Hotel and Holliday’s Public House on Kansas Avenue in downtown Topeka.

Plans for the Cyrus Hotel and Holliday’s Public House incorporate the four existing historic structures of 912, 916, 918 and 920 Kansas Avenue, along with an additional five-story tower. The venue will feature 79 guest rooms, a restaurant and bar, and over 10,000 square feet of event and meeting space with full catering services.

Located just one block from the Capitol, the hotel and restaurant honor Topeka’s founder, Cyrus K. Holliday.  In an 1854 letter to his wife, Holliday described the area as “perhaps the best landing and the most eligible site for a city in the entire country.” In this spirit, the City of Topeka has invested $9 million dollars over the past two years redesigning and greenscaping Kansas Avenue, making it ripe for development.

Foster and Comeau worked with Lake Flato, one of the world’s leading architectural firms based in San Antonio, Texas, to design the hotel. David Bowd, founder of Salt Hotels of New York, and former COO for Ian Schrager Hotels and André Balazs Hotels of New York, Los Angeles and London, will manage hotel operations. Topeka companies Architect 1 and McPherson Contractors will bring the plans of the Cyrus Hotel and Holliday’s Public House to fruition.

Liberty Group was established in 1999 to help with the revitalization of downtown Hays. Comeau is a native of nearby Plainville and Fort Hays State University alumni who remembered downtown Hays as a vibrant community hub and wanted to be a part of its resurgence. Liberty Group approached the City of Hays a year later with the Chestnut Street District concept. As a result, the City provided funding to establish the Downtown Hays Development Corp.

Hays development is still in progress. Liberty Group has completed plans for a new 67-room downtown hotel, located at 12th and Main Streets. The concept includes renovation of the historic Strand Theater, located next to the proposed hotel site, into a 6,000-square-foot event venue. A public task force has been formed by the DHDC and the Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development to address and evaluate public infrastructure needs before Liberty Group moves forward with development plans.

For more information on the Cyrus Hotel and Holliday’s Public House, visit www.CyrusHotel.com.