The story of the former Urbana Landmark Hotel has been a dramatic one. With the progress that’s been made thus far to transform it into Hotel Royer, it seems like a functioning hotel is just within our grasp. However, we’re going to have to wait just a bit longer. Recently, the developers from Icon Hospitality asked for another extension, pushing the completion date from February 29th to December 31st. The Urbana City Council unanimously approved the extension, with a stipulation that if the developers do not meet the new deadline of December 31, 2024, then the $5.5 million incentive from the city will be reduced by $150,000 for every three months beyond that date.* As slow and frustrating as this process has been, the potential benefits for Downtown Urbana and our community as a whole are far too important, and so much work has already been done.
Built as the Lincoln Hotel in the early 1920s, what will be the Hotel Royer has been through several owners and transformations throughout the years. Here’s a quick summary from Illinois Public Media:
In the 1960’s, the Urbana-Lincoln was acquired by the Carson Pirie Scott department store chain, which attached it to the then-new Lincoln Square Mall. Today, the hotel’s original front entrance opens onto the mall’s food court.
For many years, the hotel was owned by the late Jim Jumer, and was operated as a Jumer’s Castle Lodge. Additional rooms and conference space were added on to the hotel during this period.
The hotel has struggled under several owners in the 21st century. X.J. Yuan was the latest owner, buying and renovating the building in 2010, with financial aid from the city of Urbana. He later paid the money back after failing to open the hotel’s restaurant and conference center.
Yuan put the Urbana Landmark hotel up for sale in 2015, and closed it in 2016. But it remains a key component in any future development of the Lincoln Square area in downtown Urbana.
It’s been a big vacant eyesore in Downtown Urbana for the last several years, and it’s been hard to keep up with what has transpired in the quest to find new owners to restore and renovate it. To wit, we present a brief timeline of the past seven years:
- March 2017: Just after the Hilton Tapestry brand was launched, a developer proposed a $20 million deal to renovate the hotel.
- June 2017: The project was deemed “not feasible.”
- December 2017: The property went up for auction with a starting bid of $1.2 million. The bidding got to $3.95 million but the owner still said “no thanks.”
- September 2018: In another auction attempt, the property sold for $1.3 million.
- November 2018: That bidder bowed out, and the second highest bidder declined to close.
- May 2019: The city enters into a letter of intent with new developers that are once again intending to make it a Hilton Tapestry hotel.
- January 2020: The property is sold to Icon Hospitality.
- March 2020: A pandemic happened, so the work doesn’t begin until 2021.
- July 2021: The hotel is set to open in late 2022 with the name Hotel Royer.
- November 2022: The developers request the first extension, which is granted.
- May 2023: Reservations opened on the Hilton website.
- August 2023: A second extension is granted.
A recent CheckCU article questioned whether the Urbana City Council, on behalf of the taxpayers, should “continue to extend the $5.5 million completion incentive to this group of wealthy businessmen, even after they have blown the project deadline so many times,” and asked, “What does Urbana have to gain by extending this charity?” Well, a lot, we think.
Downtown Urbana has a lot of cool activities and businesses but without any viable lodging, tourism and further growth potential is limited. Having a brand new hotel, with a unique history and brand familiarity will be a draw for this part of Urbana, as well as visitors for big events on campus. If there are ballrooms or conference rooms, we could see opportunities for local performances and events. Lincoln Square Mall, a “dead” mall that actually has a lot of interesting elements in it,could see a revival (and we haven’t given up on our dreams of a park plaza in those Lincoln Square lots). It will bring more traffic to existing downtown restaurants,bars, and stores, and hopefully encourage more businesses to come to downtown.
We are too far along in the process to give up now. The $5.5 million will be invested only upon completion of the project, so the city is not losing money here, and significant progress has already been made on a property that requires immense renovation in order to be operational. From the Urbana City Council memorandum on this (page 186 of the meeting packet): “At the time of the sale, the hotel had been closed for several years and was vandalized throughout that time. Prior to the closure, investment in the hotel building itself had been minimal.” Later, the memorandum states:
Construction of the Hotel Royer has been steadily progressing. The Council has been given tours on two occasions. The primary outstanding item with an uncertain completion date is the upgrading of the passenger elevators. The installation of the kitchen equipment is another large item that remains incomplete. Since the last extension, staff had the opportunity to meet with a representive [sic] from Hilton. Hilton remains committed to and enthusiastic about the Hotel Royer project.
We are all ready to see a shiny, new — and hopefully thriving — hotel replace the giant, spooky vacant building that we’ve been staring at for years. Let’s hope we see that happen by December 31st or sooner.
*Editor’s note: the original version stated that the penalty would be $500,000 for every three months past the deadline. The Urbana City Council reduced the penalty to $150,000.
The Editorial Board is Jessica Hammie, Louise Knight-Gibson, Julie McClure, Patrick Singer, and Mara Thacker.