GI Stone Debuts New Luxury Residential Design Division
Photo Courtesy of GI Stone
CHICAGO, IL -- GI Stone, one of the country’s leading commercial stone suppliers, fabricators and installers, recently announced the official launch of its luxury residential design practice, offering its services to private homeowners and their designers for the first time in the company’s 30-year history.
“Given our growing portfolio of upscale notable commercial projects, particularly in the multifamily and hospitality sector, as well as stone’s growing popularity in interior design, we found ourselves fielding more and more queries about private residential jobs from people who had seen our work in a hotel or luxury apartment tower and wanted something similar in their own home,” said GI Stone President Sandya Dandamudi. “We’ve been discussing the idea of launching a residential practice for years but knew this was finally the right time to expand our services and offer our expertise directly to homeowners and the interior designers who serve that market.
“The division started organically with just a few clients, but it’s really taken off and is projected to be a growing share of our revenue going forward,” Dandamudi continued.
Since its soft launch earlier this year, GI Stone’s luxury residential design practice has completed a variety of projects, including a private condominium on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile; a sizable rehab in Hinsdale, IL.; and a vacation home in Three Oaks, MI, near the shores of Lake Michigan.
GI Stone’s new endeavor is led by Luxury Division Director Cathy Scratch, an industry veteran who brings 30-plus years of experience in leadership, business development, project management and client service, including a multi-year tenure with Material Bespoke Stone + Tile, most recently as director of sales.
“The homeowners we’re working with relish the idea of having the same firm that provided the stone for iconic buildings such as Tribune Tower Residences, St. Regis Chicago and, perhaps most impressively, the Obama Presidential Center, source, fabricate and install visually striking stone features in their own homes,” Scratch said. “Carving a new niche in the residential design space has been a very fun and creative outlet for our team. It’s also rewarding to work directly with homeowners in making their vision a reality. On commercial jobs, the developer is our client, so we usually don’t get to hear from residents or hotel guests how much they love our work. To be able to partner with developers, as well as homeowners, brings out the best in our teams.”
An expert in private residential kitchens and bathroom design, Scratch has worked closely with private homeowners and their design teams on striking design statements for the firm’s residential projects, including onyx countertops illuminated from within, custom stone staircases and large-scale accent walls covered with printed porcelain.
To support the firm’s growth in the private residential sector, last year GI Stone acquired a two-story 24,000-square-foot building, as well as a parking lot adjacent to its longtime headquarters and workshop at 1420 W. Hubbard St. in Chicago’s light industrial Kinzie Corridor. GI Stone plans to transform its new building into a showroom and dedicated event space tentatively slated to open in mid-2026.
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