A plan to build 30 duplexes using a 3D printer in Cairo, Illinois, has fallen apart. The project was meant to bring new housing to one of the state’s poorest towns, but it has stalled, leaving behind a single unfinished structure and drawing the attention of the FBI.
Cairo has not seen a new home built in at least 30 years. When the project launched in August 2024, more than 100 residents gathered at a vacant lot on 17th Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue to watch a large 3D printer begin its work. For locals like Kaneesha Mallory, who lives in cramped public housing, it felt like a real turning point. She was so invested that she stayed in the heat until she fainted.
Behind the scenes, however, things were already going wrong. The developers, Jamie Hayes and Erik Burtis of Prestige Project Management Inc., had run into serious trouble before the printer even arrived. According to ProPublica, they had previously forfeited a $590,000 deposit on a different printer after trying to cancel an order – an early sign that the operation was in trouble from the start.
The project lacked funding, experience, and a clear plan from the very beginning
Financing for the project was never clearly explained. While the company promised to donate the first duplex, there was no clear plan for how the remaining 29 homes would be funded. City officials, including attorney Rick Abell, repeatedly tried to get answers about how the development would work long-term. It also came to light that the company had no prior experience in affordable housing.
Work on the duplex stopped before it was completed, with the owners pointing to cracks in the walls. The 3D printer, which was meant to drive the project forward, was later found sitting disassembled on a flatbed trailer at a repair shop, with weeds growing around the wheels. The FBI has a long history of investigating unusual and high-profile cases, and its recent declassification of decades-old government files shows how far back its reach goes.
The FBI has launched an investigation into Prestige Project Management Inc. No charges have been filed, and the owners deny any wrongdoing, but the federal probe has extended to other contracts the company held with school districts and the city of Harrisburg. The bureau has also been known to investigate cases where key figures vanished after a project collapsed, drawing parallels to how this case may unfold.
The political side of the story is equally complicated. State Sen. Dale Fowler, who supported the project and promoted it to Gov. JB Pritzker, has tried to step back as scrutiny has grown. Despite Prestige being his largest source of campaign donations, Fowler has said he was simply a supporter of the effort.
For the people of Cairo, this is another in a long line of big promises that never delivered. The unfinished duplex still sits on the lot, empty and incomplete. Mallory, who had been so hopeful at the start, is now looking for housing elsewhere, saying the project turned out to be nothing more than broken promises.
Published: May 18, 2026 02:30 pm