The grand-opening of the Urbana Landmark Hotel bar Saturday night was an accomplishment for hotel owner Xiao Jin Yuan, as hotel renovations were contested as an issue in local politics. 

At least 550 people attended the opening, Yuan said, which featured music by Vena, a Latin American bachata supergroup.

The after-party at the bar followed an event hosted by the Alpha Chi chapter of the Lambda Upsilon Lambda fraternity at the Illini Union on Saturday night. The event included a history of bachata, a style of Dominican music and dancing, a Q&A with the group and a free live performance.

Vena reserved the ballroom for the after-party and later decided to reserve rooms to stay in the hotel.

The Urbana Landmark Hotel has been open since December 2012 with 45 guest rooms available. Because of delays in obtaining liquor licenses, Yuan had been unable to open the bar until last weekend.

Many have eagerly anticipated the opening of the bar, including one current guest at the hotel.

“I have great hopes that it (the hotel) will continue to thrive and be a presence in Urbana,” said Richard Briscoe, University alumnus and former area resident. “I know XJ’s (Yuan’s) got it in the plan, but having the tavern open will be great.”

Yuan said he has met many setbacks while renovating the hotel but still wants to bring it back to life. The hotel was designed by Joseph William Royer, an Urbana architect and engineer who designed many buildings in Urbana like the Champaign County Courthouse.

“I fell in love with the building,” Yuan said. “I believe the risk of investment in this building is manageable with my current finances.”

Yuan spent 12 years as a commodities trader in Hong Kong, which required him to travel extensively. He said through his travels, he saw what it means to preserve historic buildings, as well as what it means to let them go to waste.

“Even today, if you travel in Europe, you will see a lot of well-maintained old buildings,” Yuan said. “People didn’t tear them down … they maintain some of the very old walls of their cities.”

Along with the historical significance of the hotel building, Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing said she doesn’t see a much better option regarding the old property than to support Yuan in fixing it. The hotel is attached to Lincoln Square, so destruction of the hotel would mean leaving a hole in Lincoln Square Mall, as well as demolishing a building listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“We didn’t have hundreds of people lined up to remodel this building,” Prussing said. “We could work with this guy (Yuan), who already owned a hotel and was the most responsible person who was interested. The alternative to fixing the hotel would be to let the building deteriorate.”

Continuing to let the building deteriorate would have meant ignoring a fire hazard and continuing to allow homeless people to break into and steal from the hotel, she added. Instead, the city of Urbana wanted to leverage Yuan’s personal investment in the project with tax increment financing money (TIF).

Tom Carrino, Urbana economic development manager, said when Yuan and the city tried to find a bank to finance part of the redevelopment of the hotel, it was difficult primarily because of the economic climate.

“The lending environment was not good at the time, specifically for hotels,” Carrino said. “The purpose of TIF funds is to make projects like this happen.”

Yuan pledged $2 million of his own investment to renovate the Urbana Landmark Hotel, with $1.45 million in TIF funds from the city of Urbana.

Leslie Stratton, who challenged Prussing in the Democratic primary for mayor, held a news conference in January regarding the “failed” renovation plans and “mismanaged” plan for the hotel by the Prussing administration. Prussing said Stratton used the Urbana Landmark Hotel issue “to satisfy his political purpose.” Stratton lost the primary to Prussing in February.

Despite the charges of mismanagement from Stratton and others in the Urbana community, Yuan continues to make improvements on the hotel and deal with the numerous unexpected challenges of renovating a 90-year-old building. Yuan is tired, and his family would prefer it if he could return home. However, finishing the Urbana Landmark Hotel project is his main goal.

“If anyone thinks this investor got a deal from the city, please, buy me out, so I can go home,” Yuan said. “While everyone is sitting at home watching T.V. and drinking beer and having family life, I am worrying about leaks in the roof and worrying about whether or not we can get certain things done.”

Janelle can be reached [email protected].