Community leaders tour Keefer House Hotel for renovations update
HILLSDALE — Nick Fox, the vice president of construction management for CL Real Estate, and Brant Cohen provided guided tours to community leaders and members of the press last week at the historic Keefer House Hotel in downtown Hillsdale.
Tours started in the basement of the historic hotel where Fox highlighted the steel support beams and floor joists that were added to the standing joists for structural support and walked through the basement’s newly poured concrete floor as he explained issues with standing water that slowed redevelopment efforts.
Fox said the entirety of the basement floor was torn out and dug down 18 inches to address roughly eight inches of standing water. Seven new sump pumps were installed with drainage to alleviate the issues before a new concrete floor was poured.
The tour progressed through each floor as Fox explained the status of work being done to revitalize the dilapidated and once vacant structure.
With structural work nearing completion, masons, carpenters, electricians and plumbers are now working side by side to frame walls and install utility rough-ins, Fox said.
Over the next several months crews will continue building out the interior of the hotel and development of the on-site restaurant is in the works.
“We are happy that all construction problems could be solved and the project is now on track to open its doors in 2024,” said Peter Limberger, Chairman of CL Enterprises. “We believe it will be a great addition to the city of Hillsdale and will become a destination for leisure and business travelers.”
The city’s Tax Increment Finance Authority Chair, Drew Gelzer, was one of the community leaders invited for a tour April 5.
“After touring the Keefer House Hotel, I am pleased to report that the project is well underway,” Gelzer said. “It was inspiring to view the progress made since my last update thirty days ago. I want to compliment CLRED and Phoenix Builders on their diligence and attention to detail as they bring the Keefer House Hotel back to life and I cannot wait to see the building finished.
CLRED and the city of Hillsdale’s TIFA have come under fire from residents and business owners downtown alike frustrated with a perceived lack of progress on renovations.
CLRED — the developer who purchased the once vacant building in 2017 with big hopes for economic development in the downtown — even drew criticism from the city council in 2023 for a perceived lack of progress over the last several years with deadlines passing and new deadlines fading.
The Keefer House Hotel was initially anticipated to be open by November 2022 but issues with the global supply chain and inflation caused by COVID-19 delayed the grand re-opening.
The city’s Tax Increment Finance Authority purchased the Dawn Theater and Keefer House Hotel years ago with the goal of redeveloping the once vacant properties in the interest of economic development in the downtown Hillsdale.
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Since then, the TIFA board has completed renovations of the Dawn Theater, which has since re-opened, under management by CLRED.
Ideally, once the hotel is opened again, the company will work to pair entertainment at the Dawn Theater with hotel accommodations at the Keefer House Hotel which will include a restaurant and 34 rooms for guests as well as two new retail spaces.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer made a surprise visit to Hillsdale in the fall of 2021 to tour the Keefer House Hotel with CL Real Estate and city officials involved in the project.
— Contact Reporter Corey Murray at cmurray@hillsdale.net or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @cmurrayHDN.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Community leaders tour Keefer House Hotel for renovations update
