A plan to save downtown | News

Four development groups have told Sangamon County officials they may be interested in building a 200- to 300-bed hotel on a county-owned parking lot along South Ninth Street and collaborating with the county to double the size of the BOS Center.

County officials declined to reveal names of the groups that expressed interest through responses to a request for proposals, but County Board Chair Andy Van Meter told Illinois Times he was “very pleasantly surprised” by the responses submitted by the May 22 deadline.

Two of the groups were based in the Chicago area, one was in Atlanta, and the fourth was based in Dallas, Van Meter said.

“Two of them have given us very, very detailed, thick proposals with their concepts, and two of them have just expressed a general interest in proceeding with conversations,” he said.

Private discussions among local officials, their consulting firm and the development groups will take place in the coming weeks and months to whittle down the field, Van Meter said. The goal is to choose a developer for what could become a new $100 million, full-service hotel connected to a proposed $93 million expansion of Springfield’s publicly owned convention center.

“There’s going to be this long period of back-and-forth, and that could lead to a narrowing to one candidate, or it could lead us to back up and cast the net again,” Van Meter said. “We don’t know that until we pursue those conversations.”

The combined project would cost an estimated $180 million to $200 million and – if it becomes reality – be paid for with private dollars, state funds and with new hotel room taxes and increased sales taxes generated by mostly out-of-town convention guests and other travelers.

Van Meter, a Springfield Republican, said he remains optimistic that the project, which has been under discussion with city, county and state officials for more than two years, will move forward.

“I think the city and county are interested in doing what needs to be done there,” he said, “but ultimately this project is going to fly, or not fly, on a pretty substantial contribution to the convention center by the state.

“All of the financing calculations kind of start with, ‘What does the state feel it can reasonably contribute?'” he said. “And once you know that number, then there are a bunch of other levers to be pulled.”

There is recent precedent for such assistance, Van Meter said. He pointed to $25 million pledged by the state for the Peoria Civic Center in 2019 that contributed to $47 million in improvements completed at that publicly owned convention center in 2024.

Considering inflation and the scope of plans in Springfield, more than $25 million may be needed from the state for the capital city, Van Meter said. But he said he and other local officials have been encouraged by Gov. JB Pritzker’s previously stated interest in assisting.

“I think it’s really doable,” Van Meter said. “The governor and Mrs. Pritzker have been sincerely interested in doing something for downtown Springfield.”

Time may be of the essence, however.

Pritzker, a billionaire Democrat from Chicago and an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, is considering a run for president and forgoing a bid for a third four-year term as governor. The next gubernatorial election will take place in November 2026; the next presidential election will be in November 2028.

Asked in recent days about Pritzker’s interest in assisting with the BOS expansion, Pritzker spokesperson Alex Gough would say only that the Pritzker administration was focused on hammering out a state budget for fiscal 2026. That budget, which received approval from the Illinois House and Senate in late May, is headed to Pritzker’s desk for his signature and takes effect July 1.

Pritzker will be governor for at least another year, so the best way to finalize state support for an expanded BOS Center complex may be through the state’s fiscal 2027 budget, Van Meter said. That budget likely will be approved by the Democratic-controlled General Assembly a year from now.

To allow ample time to work with Pritzker and other state officials, Van Meter said Springfield and Sangamon County officials, as well as the eventual private development group, will need to “get our proposal pulled together by the end of this year.”

“Bringing in outside dollars”

State Rep. Mike Coffey Jr., R-Springfield, said: “I think that an expansion of the BOS Center, along with the hotel, will be what saves downtown, to be quite honest with you. I think it’s that important.

“I think the only way we crawl out of the hole we’re in downtown is by bringing in outside dollars into the capital city, and I think this is the best way to do it,” he said.

Coffey is part of a group of local officials – including Van Meter, state Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, and Springfield Mayor Misty Buscher – who have met regularly to advance the project.

Coffey owns Saputo’s restaurant at 801 E. Monroe St., adjacent to the proposed BOS expansion site, which is immediately south of the BOS Center. He also is chairperson of the Springfield Metropolitan Exposition and Auditorium Authority Board, the 11-member elected panel that controls the BOS Center.

“No individuals benefit from this project,” he said. “It is government creating an atmosphere where private investment will then commit. It should be the singular focus for refurbishing any other building, because if we can bring a new hotel, we’re going to bring the people down, then you will see those vacant storefronts fill up. You have to bring the people, and then the businesses will follow.

“The likelihood of it happening now is a 50-50 shot at best, because a lot has to happen,” Coffey said.

Buscher said she supports the project as proposed, especially with the expected opening later this year of the Scheels Sports Park at Legacy Pointe.

“I would always embrace another hotel,” she said. “As soon as the sports center opens up, we are not going to have enough hotel rooms in Springfield. We are going to have people staying out of our city to go to events at that sports complex, so we need hotels.”

The mayor said she believes local residents would like to see an expansion, as well.

“I think citizens would like anything great that would help downtown and make downtown a better place to thrive, but I think they would also want to make sure that we are doing our due diligence to make sure that the facility gets used,” Buscher said.

A feasibility study on the project by the company Conventions, Sports & Leisure (CSL) International said the new hotel would add an estimated 232 permanent jobs to the BOS Center’s current 175 part-time and full-time jobs.

CSL said the new hotel should be constructed next to, and connected to, the expanded convention center to maximize the proposed expansion space.

Additional space would allow the 65,000-square-foot center, which opened in 1979 and underwent an $18 million renovation in 2013, to host more and larger conventions, proponents of an expansion said.

The project also would give the center the ability to host big-scale entertainment acts at the same time – an option currently not available because of limited space, according to Scott Dahl, director of the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The BOS Center posted $2.8 million in total operating revenues and $4.7 million in operating expenses in the fiscal year that ended in June 2024, resulting in a net operating loss of almost $1.9 million. The loss was more than covered by $3.14 million in property tax revenues.

The net loss situation is a perennial one for the BOS Center and common among publicly owned convention centers in midsize communities. Coffey said the center is a “loss leader for the city” because it more than compensates for the loss through positive economic impact for the community.

The CSL study estimated an expanded BOS Center would generate $32.6 million for the community in annual economic activity without a new hotel and $47 million with a new hotel.

“With an expansion, it is predicted that while still operating at the loss, it will be less significant,” Coffey said.

Paying for the project

In addition to the state, funding for the expansion could come from one or more of several sources, Van Meter said, including a new countywide hotel-motel tax of up to 3%. The Sangamon County Board received authority to impose such a tax in legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2024 and signed by Pritzker.

According to the legislation, money from this new tax would have to be spent on “sports, arts or other entertainment or tourism facilities or programs” to promote tourism and job growth, as well as for other programs “for the general health and well-being of the citizens of the county.”

Money to pay for the project also could come from 100% of the city and county’s share of hotel-motel taxes generated by the new hotel. Another option would be any increased sales tax revenue generated by the convention center for the city and county.

A final option, Van Meter said, would be any hotel-motel tax imposed by a “tourism improvement district” created by the Sangamon County Board that was formed by the board in 2023 to cover the entire county.

Van Meter said generating money from the TID would be unlikely. That’s because of the challenge in convincing hotel owners, whose approval would be needed, that a new hotel room tax is justified to help pay for the project, Van Meter said.

A new room tax created by the TID also would be limited to 20 years to pay off borrowing for the project. Van Meter said it would be easier, in theory, to convince the County Board to pass a room tax funding the project. And the tax wouldn’t be limited to a 20-year lifespan.

The proposed new hotel could fit snugly next to the convention center expansion on the county-owned, 60,000-square-foot parking lot immediately south of the BOS Center and across East Adams Street, the CSL study said.

The expansion would be connected to the existing BOS Center by either a skybridge over Adams or a ground-level, enclosed walkway, the study said.

Future of Wyndham uncertain

A new hotel was suggested by CSL because it said the President Abraham Lincoln Springfield, a DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel that offers 310 rooms, and the Wyndham Springfield City Centre Hotel, with 369 rooms, “are considered substandard headquarters hotel properties relative to modern design standards for full-service, convention-quality hotel products.”

The Wyndham site, at 700 E. Adams St. and immediately southwest of the BOS Center, was described by CSL as “the most desirable” site for the new hotel. The existing 30-story structure presumably would be torn down and rebuilt, then connected to the expanded BOS Center through a skybridge.

But Van Meter said county officials haven’t told developers they have any control over the Wyndham, which is closed and whose owner, Al Rajabi of Tower Capital Group, hasn’t communicated with local officials for months.

Moreover, it may be many months before the Wyndham can reopen. The hotel was damaged by internal flooding on March 27 and has been closed since then.

An initial estimate from the Wyndham’s owner that the hotel would be closed for up to 90 days increased in the past month. A reopening now could be delayed for up to 120 days, Dahl said.

And Gosia Wray, the Wyndham’s general manager, informed a Springfield Business Journal staff member who was compiling a list of Springfield hotels for an upcoming publication that a reopening could be delayed even longer.

Wray wrote in a May 6 email that it “doesn’t look like we will be able to reopen sooner than in 6 months,” though she also said, “I do not have any decision-making voice.”

No one answers the phone at the hotel, and Wray didn’t respond to an email. Rajabi, of San Antonio, Texas, didn’t respond to a phone message or an email. An Illinois Times reporter who walked up to the Wyndham’s front doors to take photographs on May 23 was greeted by a woman who told the reporter to get off the property.

Details of what caused the damage that closed the hotel have been elusive.

The Wyndham first opened as Forum 30 in 1973 and is the second-tallest building in Springfield, behind the Capitol. The hotel began to be known as the Springfield Hilton in 1980, and its brand switched to Wyndham in 2015.

A March 28 news release from the city of Springfield said the Springfield Fire Department responded to an alarm call at the Wyndham the day before and found flooding and elevator damage but no fire.

“After further SFD inspection and investigation by the State Fire Marshal, the Springfield Fire Department Fire Safety Division placarded the hotel property for not meeting life safety code standards due to nonworking elevators and out-of-service fire alarm and sprinkler systems,” the statement read in part.

Wray wrote in a March 28 news release, “We are working hard to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and look forward to welcoming our guests back very soon. As soon as we have more information to share, we will provide an update. In the meantime, we truly appreciate your patience and understanding.”

It’s unknown how much damage was done and how insurance coverage may play a role in restoration efforts.

Sara Pickford, a deputy chief at the Springfield Police Department, told Illinois Times in a May 29 email, “It is still a very active investigation with multiple agencies involved. I am hopeful that it will be resolved, and at that time, we will release pertinent information. But I can say that the damage that occurred is being investigated as an intentional act, and no arrests have been made.”

Adding to the Wyndham’s financial challenges is a lien filed against the property by Springfield-based E.L. Pruitt Co. Pruitt says in its claim, filed with the Sangamon County Recorder’s Office on Jan. 6, that the Wyndham owes Pruitt $386,855 for a temporary chiller and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning services provided in October 2024.

A spokesperson for Pruitt didn’t return a phone call seeking comment.

The Wyndham is a key player in the city’s tourism and convention industry. Dahl and the staff of his city-operated department had to scramble to help find accommodations and arrange shuttle services for convention-related visitors, but the loss of the Wyndham hasn’t resulted in the city losing any conventions in 2025, he said.

Many displaced guests have been able to be rerouted to the Abraham Lincoln hotel across the street from the Wyndham, and the Crowne Plaza Springfield Hotel at 3000 S. Dirksen Parkway.

The impact of the Wyndham closure on convention business for 2026 and beyond is less certain, Dahl said.

Springfield has almost 4,000 hotel rooms, with an average annual occupancy rate of 53%, Dahl said. However, he said one of the benefits his agency can pitch for conventions downtown is the close proximity of the Wyndham, the BOS Center and the Abraham Lincoln hotel.

The Wyndham’s future will play a role in how a potential expansion of the BOS Center is finalized.

Officials from the city, Sangamon County and the publicly controlled convention center received results of a feasibility study in 2024 that recommended doubling the BOS Center’s size to capture more convention business that is being lost to venues in other communities.

The study also recommended constructing a new 300-bed hotel adjacent to the convention center to maximize the potential of a larger BOS Center. One option floated in the study was tearing down the Wyndham and building the new hotel there.

Proposals from Rajabi, the Wyndham’s owner, have focused thus far on renovating the hotel so it would offer a combination of market-rate apartment units and hotel rooms. But those options, which require zoning approval from the City Council, have failed to gain enough council support in the past three years to pass.

Rajabi hasn’t responded to the city’s 2023 offer of potential financial incentives to renovate the hotel. Even before the March incident, it was unclear whether any renovations, or a sale of the property, were being planned, because Rajabi wasn’t communicating with city officials.

However, city officials finalized an agreement in January with Rajabi in which he will resume paying rent for use of the city-owned parking lot at 700 E. Monroe St.

Major renovations at the Capitol, along with pending construction of the county’s new central transportation hub, the rail consolidation project and now the possibility of a BOS Center expansion, will be exciting to see completed over the next several years, Dahl said.

“You’re going to see the downtown renewed, and we will look much more finished,” he said. “I think Springfield will look as good as it’s looked in the past 50 years.”