Stormont Vail Health buys downtown Topeka building. Here's how it will be used

Keishera Lately, Topeka Capital-Journal
Updated ·1 min read

Stormont Vail Health has purchased a downtown Topeka building previously owned by Colgate Palmolive and Hill's Pet Nutrition.

Ashley Gilfillan, president of Downtown Topeka Inc., said a company that is already embedded in Topeka and a "community champion" brings a great opportunity for downtown Topeka.

"It makes me really excited that they're going to have a bigger footprint downtown," Gilfillan told The Capital-Journal, "and we're excited for them to join us in our downtown ecosystem.

"When we think about downtown, a lot of people immediately might think of Kansas Avenue, but what this does is really highlights how big our downtown is and what our span is."

The Capitol Tower building at the corner of S.W. 8th and Harrison was recently acquired by Stormont Vail Health.
The Capitol Tower building at the corner of S.W. 8th and Harrison was recently acquired by Stormont Vail Health.

What will the building be used for?

The building at S.W. 8th and Harrison will be used for administrative and support services but not clinical services.

A news release sent Thursday said the building will be converted "into a location for administrative and support services."

With its seven stories and 143,934 square feet of space, the building provides single tenant office space with 300 covered parking spaces.

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Rob Kenagy, president and CEO at Stormont Health, said in a news release the addition of the new building will allow the hospital to bring together departments that support the clinical operations.

Stormont Vail reports a number of its operational support departments will move into the building "over a phased process throughout this year."

"We had been considering the benefits of a service center when this building became available and fit our needs," Kenagy said. "It will provide space for administrative function and in turn, by relocating some of those operations will open up needed space for clinical areas."

Keishera Lately is the business reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. She can be reached at klately@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @Lately_KT.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Stormont Vail Health buys former Hill's headquarters in downtown Topeka