Celadon Wins Bid to Restore Pullman’s Historic Hotel Florence

Developer Scott Henry’s newest plan will restore a Queen Anne-style, brick and limestone landmark built in 1881 on Chicago’s South Side to the tune of $85 million.

The Roseland native’s firm, Celadon Partners, won a request for proposals from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to revive the historic Hotel Florence in the Pullman neighborhood, Henry told The Real Deal.

After moving to Texas as a child, Henry maintained his family roots on the South Side.

“It was always my goal to return here and be a part of Roseland’s comeback story,” he said.

He could be on his way to achieving that. Hotel Florence, at 11111 South Forrestville Avenue, marks one of several real estate projects Henry has pursued in the area. Next door to Roseland, Celadon previously converted the West Pullman Elementary former school building into a 60-unit senior housing property as part of a roughly $20 million project.

With Celadon’s latest plan in Pullman for Hotel Florence, the firm is echoing its ongoing transformation of Evanston’s Harley Clarke Mansion into a boutique hotel and event venue.

The Hotel Florence restoration includes spending a little more than $50 million to turn it into a boutique hotel with a bar, restaurant and affordable housing geared toward performing artists, plus a little more than $30 million to create an event venue within the adjacent Pullman factory complex. The plan will tap about $21 million in state funding earmarked for the project, along with historic tax credits and other financing. It also includes a 75‑year public‑private lease for the hotel and factory annex that will allow Celadon or its successor to operate the property under state ownership.

Built by industrial‑era pioneer George Pullman and designed by architect Solon Spencer Beman, Hotel Florence originally served as lodging for visiting railroad executives and supply representatives linked to the Pullman Palace Car Company. The four‑story building featured cherry‑wood parlors, stained glass, Eastlake‑era furnishings and a wraparound veranda — a symbol of Victorian‑era opulence in what was otherwise a working class company town.

But for decades the hotel has languished, closed to regular use since the early 2000s under state ownership. Occasional tours and cultural events have been held on the grounds, but nothing like the sweeping adaptive‑reuse Celadon now envisions.

In announcing the winning bid, Henry emphasized a cultural dimension: Not only will the redevelopment include affordable housing marketed toward artists, but the event venue programming will be managed in partnership with well-known rapper Che “Rhymefest” Smith’s organization, Art of Culture. It plans to bring emerging Chicago‑area talent and touring national acts into the future Pullman event venue. The proposal also envisions linking Hotel Florence with Celadon’s upcoming project at the Evanston lakefront’s Harley Clarke site. In Henry’s words, the two projects will “create more amazing collaborations.”

That’s no empty branding. In late 2024 Celadon won the rights to redevelop the Harley Clarke Mansion at 2603 Sheridan Road — a 10‑key boutique hotel plus restaurant, ice‑cream parlor, event venue and restored carriage‑house gardens. That project also emphasizes public access and cultural programming, with Celadon entering a 99‑year lease with the local government.

Celadon also has made a string of other high-profile plays across the region. In Deerfield, Celadon is investing in a $70 million senior housing project under construction on a former industrial site, and the firm remains active in affordable housing deals throughout the Chicago area.

Not all of the developer’s recent headlines have been celebratory, though. In September, Celadon and co-developer Blackwood Group sued two former partners over a dispute-ridden $184 million office-to-residential conversion on LaSalle Street in Chicago, claiming defendant Primera Group misled city officials and misappropriated control of the deal. That lawsuit, tied to the city’s LaSalle Street Reimagined initiative, underscores the competitive and high-stakes nature of public-private development in Chicago — especially when incentives and historic assets are in play.

Henry said Celadon is shooting to start construction on Hotel Florence in early 2027, with a goal of reopening the property in 2028.

The project marks an ambitious step for Celadon’s growth across niche redevelopment markets. Whether the Pullman gamble pays off could depend on the same formula it’s banking on in Evanston: high-design hospitality, public buy-in and a splash of cultural cachet.