About RL Builders
This company is as much a story of family tradition as it is about the success from the legacy of a true pioneer and entrepreneur; Robert P Lello. In the 1960’s Bob came out of the military to a new wife and child with an ambitious motive to succeed in the world. Having worked on Hewey helicopters in the service, he made a reputation for himself as a mechanic and problem solver. Early on Bob learned how vital mechanical processes were to an efficient business model. A neighbor and mentor to Bob was an accomplished union electrician who took him under his wing knowing this young man had a good mind for mechanics but also leadership qualities enabling him to run crews and large projects. Bob excelled beyond expectation and learned by watching but could innately detect problems and come up with solutions to them. He was a motivator that always seemed to get the most out of workers. While on builder jobs as an electrical contractor; he saw how successful some General Contractors where while others stumbled. The one story that’s always told is how he used to go to work, clean up whatever mess he knew he would encounter, and do his work. He witnessed lack of oversight that resulted in miscommunications ultimately costing someone money. In 1972, he started a construction company called Mark III Builders in Homer Township Illinois & with him as the electrical contractor he partnered with a friend who was a concrete contractor and another who was a masonry contractor. They had immediate success but split when the two other partners wanted to concentrate on their budding sub-contracting companies and move operations to the South Suburbs. Bob wanted to stay put because he saw very fertile fields to grow his own vision of what a Custom Home Contractor could be.
R.L. Builders quickly became synonymous with quality and was built around strict construction organizational management with the goal of high speed delivery. R. L. Builders quickly became the dominate player for custom home construction in the Southwest Suburbs, but didn’t speculate on hot properties instead they focused energy on customers individual lots. Bob didn’t dwell on advertising or marketing because the business turned into one of referral sales which allowed him the freedom to build and not sell property. Robert once said, I built one model in my life and lived with it during times where interest rates were 18% and I swore I would never do it again. And in the history since 1982, he never had too. Bob also was a great mentor and could be counted on for developing talent. He commissioned two of his sons to work for him since they were old enough to hold hammers.
Frank, the oldest, would work with his father but often would leave and work with other trades to learn their job in order to understand what was needed to facilitate a higher quality product. He has worked as a Roofer and Carpenter, an insulator, a tile setter , and even a landscaper. He is R.L. Builders labor and holds their Electrical License. Frank went to college to study Business and Organizational Management to learn the finer points of running a construction company while using the education to develop a team atmosphere with all the workers. He works side by side with everyone and lends a hand whenever he is called upon. He challenged men while motivating them to be the absolute best they can and encourages success by empowering individual talent. He often uses group methods to work out complicated problems helping the men own the value we try to give to our clients. Our men are very loyal to us and we try to make their job successful from the start.
Chris Lello worked for R.L. Builders for over 25 years and is their eyes in the field. He like Bob can be counted on to see imperfections and problems before they can happen. He knows, yes, away from the job we can be friends, but once you are there, the job takes precedence and he is the boss. He has the same bluntness that his father does for telling it like it is even if it hurts and is more apt to, “make a contractor take it down and re-do it” then just let a small imperfection go. It is common knowledge if Chris or his father is looking for a problem, they will find it so don’t try to hide anything. This philosophy has saved our reputation over and over again through the years.
The Process
R.L. Builders reputation grew and in the early 90’s took a turn and headed up-hill to the high-end construction market. Homes became mansions and every architect was trying to out draw each other with new designs that utilized new technologies for efficiency and comfort. Standards made them search for suppliers of exotic materials such as wood species or imported marbles and granites. Brick facades became stone, ceilings had different design, people wanted brushed nickel and stainless steel, and re-work of a concept born from the mind of a customer seeing something they wanted to change could be accomplished with help from on site managers. They had a reputation for being tenacious in their searches for better quality and were known for trying things first after careful scrutiny. We believe in energy efficient, “green technologies” and have been in front of its implementation before anyone else.
These tactics paid off and more and more were understanding that, “custom built” meant your own personal imprint and not just a small room size change. It could mean fancy trey ceilings and home theaters, wine cellars or cast concrete balconies it was understood that if you could afford it and want it, R.L. Builders could do it. We relied on Sub-Contractors who were the top in their fields and would justify paying more to get better quality and service. We became the company that would travel to take on an interesting project or we could homes built anywhere in the Chicago or its North, South, East, or West Suburban areas. By the end of 2003, R.L. Builders had accomplished extreme success in establishing itself as one of the premier luxury home General Contracting firms. Bob Lello announced in 2005 about his intentions to retire. He wanted to spend more time relaxing with his wife and felt confident his sons could run the company and in 2007 retired officially.
Market conditions have changed drastically since 2005. Up-Scale clients want more value for their money. Pricing is scrutinized more and clients are checking reputation and referrals more closely. R.L. Builders thrives in these market conditions because a more educated client clearly will favor more experience and body of work. Developers are coming to Earth on pricing of Real Property and builders are not as apt to speculate now that the housing bubble has burst. This is good for the prospective home owners as they can buy the lots individually without being locked into a specific builder. They can bid a job between 3-4 other General Contractors to get exactly what they want. There isn’t this fanatical pace that makes one believe they have to make quick decisions ultimately causing pricing to go up without reason. They can choose to add or subtract options as they wish. We believe that it is noble to use ones hands to create something of value. We love to be on the job in the middle of it all. We feel team building builds pride and we know we are one of the last true manufacturers in the United States. We believe we must justify total value to keep on top in a very competitive market and following in tradition, we always will make it our top priority.
