Several hotel groups express interest in abandoned Skokie project, as discussions continue

Seven different developers have contacted the Village of Skokie about the unfinished hotel looming over downtown and are now “kicking tires, running numbers” to potentially restart construction at the site, an attorney working with the Village said on Tuesday. 

The attorney, Rodney Lewis, provided Skokie trustees the latest update on the ongoing deliberations between the parties who still have legal claims over the property located at 4930 Oakton St. 

As previously reported by The Record, what was supposed to be a Homewood Suites by Hilton hotel has stood in limbo ever since the general contractor, Russell Construction, filed a complaint in July 2023 claiming the project’s owner and developer, E&M Strategic Development, failed to pay a $10.7 million tab.

Russell Construction’s lawsuit was consolidated last year with another complaint from X-Caliber Capital, E&M’s lender, who the developer apparently owes about $9.7 million. 

An arbitration panel ruled in October 2025 that Russell has priority over any profit derived from an eventual sale or development of the hotel property, but the panel isn’t scheduled to meet again until September 2026 to resolve other outstanding claims between Russell, E&M and Ex-Caliber. 

Since then, village staff have coordinated two “all-hands-on-deck” meetings with the project’s lien holders, meetings that brought together stakeholders who have not talked for years and each side “committed to do what they can to facilitate a resolution,” Lewis said. 

For some stakeholders, like subcontractors, that would mean releasing their claims or reducing the amount of money they would accept to release their claims so that the property’s title can be passed on to a new developer, Lewis said. 

Lewis said his team is now “cautiously optimistic” they can continue to push the parties to work together and eventually create a “prepackaged” solution to present to developers outlining what it will cost to resolve the hotel’s past and what it will cost to complete the project moving forward. 

As of last Friday, five developers had reached out to the village to request financial documents about the project and one group’s interest “progressed to the point of crunching numbers on the cost of completion,” Lewis said. Two more reached out by Tuesday — all are with hotel groups. 

A game plan

Not wanting to wait until the arbitration panel’s fall meeting and likely leave the hotel’s skeleton to endure another winter, Ex-Caliber reportedly contacted the village in October 2025 and met with staff in November. 

At that meeting, documents show, X-Caliber proposed they would try to negotiate an agreement in which it would release its claims against E&M in exchange for the property’s title and for the developer to release its claims against Russell.

X-Caliber and the village reportedly agreed to continue efforts to identify a new developer to complete the project, as Skokie still has at least $14 million, including $3-$4 million in TIFF funds, available for it.

X-Caliber and the Village would “encourage” a new developer to consider opportunities for the pre-existing subcontractors to do additional work on completing the project, documents show. 

If that happens, according to the summary, X-Caliber and the village would encourage Pepper Construction, the subcontractor with the largest outstanding claim, to work with other subcontractors to end their claims against Russell Construction.

Once all those pieces are in place, X-Caliber would apparently engage with Russell to convince the construction company to drop its claims. 

Group meetings, questions

The first conference call with X-Caliber, Russell and subcontractors took place on Dec. 18 and was “at times contentious but ultimately productive,” according to documents, as the parties outlined their respective positions and discussed what they’re willing to do for a resolution.

Documents say that Russell and the subcontractors agreed to “engage in separate discussions among themselves to align on a discounted damages figure they would accept to release” their claims, and all of the parties agreed to help identify a new developer for the property.

The group reportedly met again on Jan. 9, and the village has “stayed in constant contact with the lien holders to make sure the group maintains momentum,” according to the documents.

Answering questions from the Village Board, Lewis said he could not give a specific timeline for when he anticipated the prepackaged solution to be finalized, but staff have received “firm commitments” from the contractors on the percentage they’re willing to discount their claims.

Rodney Tonelli, Skokie’s economic vitality manager, said a third-party structural engineer completed an analysis last fall that showed the hotel’s physical structure is “still in usable shape” but each winter it endures may lead to decline and require it to need further work in the future.

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