Frustrations mount over lack of progress at Keefer House Hotel
HILLSDALE — Mayor Adam Stockford said many on the city council are frustrated with the lack of progress in renovating the Keefer House Hotel.
“Last I was told, demo was complete and they were moving on and that was several months ago, so I’m confused by the letter in (Monday’s council) packet,” Stockford said.
More:Keefer renovations slowed by inflation, supply chain issues
Brant Cohen, the project manager for CL Real Estate Development, authored a letter to update the city of Hillsdale that was included in the Oct. 3 Hillsdale City Council packet under communications.
In the letter, Cohen said demolition work has slowed due to a labor shortage and further complicated by supply chain issues.
In an April interview with The Hillsdale Daily News, Cohen said demolition work was 85 percent complete and he anticipated at that time for the demolition work to only take a few additional weeks.
Renovations were originally anticipated to be finished by now with the hotel originally scheduled to open in November.
“There’s no way that’s going to happen now,” Stockford said.
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In Cohen’s letter, he explained that renovations continue to be affected by the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the mandated shutdowns of 2020.
“Through the summer, physical progress on the Keefer House Hotel’s interior demolition slowed as we navigated the shortage in labor needed for specific portions of the project that must be completed before transitioning into full construction,” Cohen stated.
Cohen warned of supply chain issues complicating the schedule in April, calling the work a fluid process, but ensured residents of Hillsdale that work to renovate the historic structure — which has sat vacant for years — would continue.
More:Keefer House rehabilitation underway
“It is never our hope to come across unintended delays, but we know that very rarely can they be avoided, nor can they be planned for in advance,” Cohen said. “The best we can do is solve them and continue forward.”
City Manager David Mackie said during a followup interview Thursday morning that delays were caused by work in the basement of the hotel where contractors had been working to dig out part of the floor and subfloor and that some subcontractors had simply walked away from the project.
Cohen added that CL Real Estate’s commitment to finishing the Keefer House Hotel is “as strong as it was on day one” and that the project remains fully funded even as the company incurs “significant cost increases in materials and supplies.”
While demolition work has slowed, Cohen stated materials, equipment, finishes and furnishings have been pre-ordered to mitigate supply delays.
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The $13 million renovations have been supplemented by a $2 million Michigan Economic Development Corp. grant and work started in spring 2021.
CL Real Estate Development purchased the once-vibrant hotel from the city’s Tax Increment Finance Authority in late 2018 with intentions of construction starting in 2019 and a grand re-opening taking place in 2020.
Local support for the project included an Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act tax abatement for 12 years valued at $577,000 in addition to the city partially forgiving the loan for the building upon a certificate of occupancy being issued.
The plan is for the Keefer House Hotel to be restored as a boutique 34-room hotel including commercial space on the ground floor, a welcoming lobby and an upscale restaurant.
— Corey Murray is a staff writer for The Hillsdale Daily News and can be reached by email at cmurray@hillsdale.net. Follow him on Twitter: @cmurrayHDN.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Frustrations mount over lack of progress at Keefer House Hotel
