Kahlil Assad bought Detroit's long-shuttered Hotel Yorba for $1.8 million and is now planning an $8 million to $10 million renovation to bring the century-old building back to life. The four-story landmark sits at the corner of Hubbard Street and West Lafayette in Southwest Detroit, and Assad says he wants the finished project to feel unique and cool rather than just another rehab job.
The building's recent history has been rough. City inspectors ordered an emergency evacuation of Hotel Yorba on September 22, 2025, after finding failed smoke detectors, a dead fire alarm panel, leaking roofs, collapsing ceilings on the upper floors, and insect and vermin infestations, according to ClickOnDetroit. Detroit's Housing and Revitalization Department stepped in immediately afterward to provide relocation and shelter assistance to at least 20 displaced residents who had been living there. As WXYZ Channel 7 reports, the property was formally vacated by the city last year before Assad ever entered the picture.
Before Assad closed the deal, Hotel Yorba had been listed on the commercial market for $2.5 million, according to ClickOnDetroit. Since acquiring the property, Assad and his team have already stabilized it, installing a new roof after years of deterioration. Scrappers had stripped room numbers off the doors in the interim, complicating efforts to pin down exactly which room hosted rock history — though the room believed to be the one, Room 206 on the second floor, is the one Assad now plans to preserve.
A Building Rooted in Detroit's Industrial Past
Hotel Yorba dates back to 1926, when it was built by the Detroit architectural firm Pollmar & Ropes for hotelier Samuel Plotkin at an original construction cost of just under $200,000, according to Historic Detroit. The 56,000-square-foot building was built as a rooming house for temporary and low-cost renters. In the late 1920s it operated as a rooming house for workers building the nearby Ambassador Bridge, per background from EHERG.
The building's more recent past includes a two-decade stretch, ending in 2003, during which the Michigan Department of Corrections contracted with Hotel Yorba to house state prison parolees — an arrangement that fueled local public safety concerns, according to Lomography. WXYZ Channel 7 reports the building now has more than 200 rooms.
The White Stripes Connection
The White Stripes Connection Music fans know Hotel Yorba for a different reason: The White Stripes recorded the song of the same name there, and the track helped make the building famous among rock fans, per the same WXYZ Channel 7 report. Lomography notes that the band recorded the single version of “Hotel Yorba” in one of the hotel's rooms in 2001; WXYZ describes Room 206 as the believed location. Lomography notes that the band was denied permission to film inside the hotel, while ClickOnDetroit reports that the music video was filmed inside the building.
Assad says that legacy is still driving interest in the property today. He told WXYZ Channel 7 that there's demand for lodging tied to Hotel Yorba and White Stripes fandom, and that most of the interest he's fielding is coming from fans of the band rather than typical hospitality clients. He's weighing retail, restaurant, café, bar, and sandwich-shop uses for the renovated space, aiming to serve both the neighborhood and the visitors the building's musical history continues to draw.
Community Pushback Reshapes the Plan
Assad's original vision for Hotel Yorba centered on low-income housing, but that proposal ran into opposition from Southwest Detroit neighbors. On August 20, Assad hosted a community barbecue outside the hotel to gather ideas directly from residents after the pushback, according to BridgeDetroit. The outlet describes it as a pivot toward a more collaborative planning process with the Hubbard Farms community rather than a top-down redevelopment.
Not everyone in the neighborhood is opposed to housing at the site. A resident named Jamie told WXYZ Channel 7 she supports the renovation plans and thinks apartments alongside a hotel component could be good for the area. Assad says his motivation comes from his love of Detroit and Southwest Detroit specifically, and that he wants the finished building to reflect that.
A Developer With a Preservation Track Record
Assad isn't new to historic rehab work in Detroit. He runs the Air King HVAC business, based in the city, and his firm has branched into historic building restoration. WXYZ Channel 7 reports that Assad's work on a Grand River Avenue building involved an overhaul that preserved its history. He's also currently renovating the King's Arms Hotel on Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard.
For now, the Hotel Yorba renovation remains in the planning phase. Assad has said he expects to begin construction next spring, with the open question being how the $8 million to $10 million budget will balance preserving pop-culture touchstones like Room 206 against the practical challenges of planning a future use for a century-old rooming house.
