Budzinski Demands Answers About Future of Hotel Property in Downtown Springfield

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) wrote to the ownership of the hotel property at 700 E. Adams St. in Springfield expressing her concern with the deterioration and mismanagement of the property. She demanded that ownership clarify their intentions for the property after years of broken promises have left the hotel boarded up with no plan of reopening. 

“The Springfield community deserves a vibrant, thriving downtown business district, and your mismanagement of the property at East Adams Street has directly undermined the city’s growth and prosperity,” Budzinski wrote in a letter to Tower Capital Group General Manager Al Rajabi. “Springfield deserves more than repeated failures, unkept promises, and allegations of misconduct. Downtown Springfield can and should be a premier destination for conventions, exhibitions, tourism, and business opportunities. Regrettably, the Springfield community has instead endured six straight years of controversy and operational collapse.”

Budzinski underscored a pattern of Tower Capital Group failing to deliver on promises to renovate the hotel, convert the property, and put it up for auction. She also cited concerning allegations that March 2025 vandalism and flooding damage was intentionally caused as part of an insurance scheme. Budzinski underscored her commitment to working with local, state, and federal leaders to ensure that the East Adams Street property delivers the value and vitality Springfield deserves.

The full text of the letter is HERE and below: 

Mr. Al Rajabi

General Manager

Tower Capital Group LP

700 E. Adams Street

Springfield, IL  62701

Mr. Rajabi,

I am writing today to express deep concern regarding the continued deterioration and mismanagement of the property at 700 East Adams Street in Springfield, Illinois, over the past several years. The Springfield community deserves a vibrant, thriving downtown business district, and your mismanagement of the property at East Adams Street has directly undermined the city’s growth and prosperity.

When you purchased the hotel in 2019, you touted plans for major upgrades and renovations. You failed to deliver those upgrades. In the years that followed, you assured the community that you were working on a deal to convert the property to another hotel chain. You never followed through on the deal. In 2024, you listed the property up for auction, raising the community’s hopes for new investment and revitalization. You never made the sale.

In March 2025, the building suffered severe vandalism and flooding, rendering it unsafe for occupancy. The Springfield Fire Department determined the property could not safely host guests or events, forcing conventions and bookings to relocate throughout the city, imposing real costs on our local economy. You assured the public the closure would last only 90 days. Six months later, the building remains closed, boarded up, and without any credible plan or timeline for repair, renovation, or reopening.

Worse yet, it was recently alleged in court that the March 2025 damage was intentionally caused as part of an insurance fraud scheme. While these allegations remain under litigation, their seriousness only adds to the mounting concerns about your stewardship. Today, Springfield’s skyline centerpiece stands dark, boarded, and blighted – an eyesore in the heart of our capital city.

Springfield deserves more than repeated failures, unkept promises, and allegations of misconduct. Downtown Springfield can and should be a premier destination for conventions, exhibitions, tourism, and business opportunities. Regrettably, the Springfield community has instead endured six straight years of controversy and operational collapse.

I urge you, in the strongest terms, to take immediate, transparent steps to clarify your intentions for the property and to work with local leaders to ensure its return to safe and productive use. In the interim, I remain committed to working with local, state, and federal leaders to ensure that the next chapter of this property finally delivers the value and vitality our community deserves. 

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