The Keefer House Hotel. Gemma Flores | Collegian 

CL Real Estate Development officially announced its partnership with Global Builders on the Keefer House Hotel at the March 16 city council meeting. Due to the recent change, developers are unable to confirm whether the project will meet its June 2026 deadline. 

CLRED, a real estate development firm, has been working to restore the Keefer House Hotel, located in downtown Hillsdale, since 2017. The company announced Feb. 26 that it had ended its contract with Phoenix Builders, the project’s former general contractor. Since then, CLRED has hired Global Builders to complete the project, which the company had promised to finish by June 2026. 

“As you know from the communications, we are in the process of changing the general contractor that is doing the work on the project,” CLRED Vice President of Construction and Development Nick Fox said at the March 16 meeting. “Going forward, we’re going to be using another general contractor out of the Chicago area and working diligently to get this project finished.”

According to Fox, CLRED is working to prepare the building, located at 104 N. Howell St., for the new contractors to move in and begin work. 

“We’ve already started a cleanup process on the site and in the building, and we’re putting together the rest of the schedule and getting the finances figured out as far as the subcontractors and getting everything else set up,” Fox said. 

Ward 3 Councilman Bob Flynn asked Fox whether the change in contractor would affect the project’s end date set by CLRED Senior Development Associate Brant Cohen. 

“I guess the obvious question is: Do you have a finish date?” Flynn said. “Mr. Cohen was here a couple of months ago and said that you would have everything wrapped up by the end of June. Are you still on that timeline?”

Fox said he would be consulting with Global Builders soon to confirm an end date for the project. He said he hoped to have “firmer answers” by his next visit to the council. 

“We’re working toward that, but I still have to get an official schedule put together with the new contractor,” Fox said. 

Ward 4 Councilman Robert Socha asked  Fox about recent allegations that CLRED refused  to pay its former contractors. 

“There were some pretty sharp accusations against CL in some of our local social media circles, including non-payment of contractors and just generally negative comments, naming you specifically. I would just ask you to address that quickly,” Socha said. 

Fox said any discrepancies were due to the transition from one contractor to another. 

“I won’t go into specifics as far as who and what, but CLRED is in the process of identifying the subcontractors that do need to be paid,” Fox said. “Some have already been brought up to date, and we’re in that process right now. But it’s an arduous process to do. So, we are working on getting everybody current.”