Meet Rene Pabon of The Childs Dreyfus Group on Hubbard

Source: http://voyagechicago.com/interview/meet-rene-pabon-childs-dreyfus-group-70-w-hubbard

Rene, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Purchased the company approximately 30 years ago. At the time CDG focused on Model Home Interior design for National clients. Since then, CDG has flourished in “vertical construction”, student housing and market-rate properties. We’re an interior design firm with a strong understanding and knowledge of interior architecture and general real estate development. We work with large PE firms, Development firms, and investment firms. Our strength goes far beyond the product we deliver. Our strength comes from understanding the markets, the trends and where multi-family living is going – so with each economic turn or twist, our diversified portfolio allows us to stay strong and agile. We move with the markets. Our business is coast-to-coast – but we are headquartered and rooted in Chicago, Midwestern values, and work ethics.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road has been exciting! We’ve weathered the real-estate storms…we’ve diversified our portfolio, and done it all with amazing clients, partners, and employees! Our focus on staying ahead has helped us stay in business. When multi-home sale went dark, our work with off-campus student housing kept us alive and strong. It was that kind of forecasting and strategy that kept us in business. Now, we’re an Interior Design firm that works in Mixed-Use Development,Boutique Hospitality, Student Housing, Active Adult Housing, Multi-Family developments and Model Home Developments.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the The Childs Dreyfus Group story. Tell us more about the business.
We are an Interior Architecture Firm. We specialize in Community, shared and private, large-scale interior design projects. We work on large-scale development projects…but we do more than design. We are involved on the ground floor. We help our clients in the very early stages of the project – to help collaborate on structure enhancements, design opportunities and help our clients improve their ROI. Some of our clients….K Hovnanian Urban, Laramar Group, American Invesco, Beechwood, Lennar, Sterling Properties, Rockefeller Group, Marriott, Hyatt, Bainbridge, Starwood, Tremmel Crow, Russo Development …

We are known for our stellar design, first-class customer service, and hands-on collaboration. Along with my management team, As CEO, I’m involved in every step of the process. We specialize in large-scale properties. Understanding the local culture and bringing the outside culture/personality inside.
We’re most proud of our client base and our ability to manage the business without investors or financial assistance.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Luck: I believe in it. We’ve been very lucky in tough times to have an alternative stream of revenue. CDG has been lucky to employ the best and the brightest…our talented staff over the past 30 years has guaranteed a quality product at every turn and twist. We’ve also had great luck with clients, partners and vendor relationships. It’s why I feel so strongly about customer service and client relations….they are the reason we are here and I’m very humbled by that.

Recent Posts