Zio’s being demolished for hotel construction

The building that once housed Zio’s Italian Kitchen is being demolished to make way for a Home2 Suites by Hilton.

In a 2023 article by Springfield Business Journal, a Home2 Suites by Hilton was proposed by East Wichita Development LLC. The property was later purchased in December 2024 by Kingsley Hotel Partners LLC, registered to Tim O’Reilly of O’Reilly Hospitality Management LLC, Greene County Assessor’s records say.

Reached by email, O’Reilly confirmed that Kingsley Hotel Partners is the franchisee for the planned Home2 Suites by Hilton at the former Zio’s site.

“We are going to proceed with finalizing architectural and engineering drawings in the near future and will start construction as soon as is reasonably possibly,” he said.

A final development plan for the property, approved by Springfield City Council in January 2024, called for a 117-room extended-stay hotel on the site, 1249 E. Kingsley St., located southeast of the intersection of National Avenue and James River Freeway.

In the public hearing before the 2024 council vote, architect Geoffrey Butler said the site development for the project was complete, adding, “We just wipe out the Zio’s and plunk a hotel right down there in the middle of it – don’t have to hardly do much.”

Wiping out the Zio’s is currently underway. The restaurant had a fire in June 2020, according to past SBJ reporting, and never reopened. A wrecking permit for the site was issued in May 2025, according to Springfield online permitting records.

Springfield Daily Citizen was the first to report on the demolition.