On Saturday, October 10, Andy's Place at 208 S. Broad Street was full again. WDIV reported a full house, live music and drinks at the reopening, plus owner Andrea Chapin's plan to stay open six days a week. One upstairs wall still carries damage from June 2022. Chapin kept it that way on purpose.
A few steps away, the Holly Hotel has been dark since that same fire. The hammers there are quiet because of a few inches of brick and roof eave that sit on a neighbor's lot. Four years later, the buildings that only needed their own owners to act have reopened. The hotel's restoration involves the property line it shares with the lot next door.
Four years on Battle Alley, in order
- June 21, 2022. A fire starts at Battle Alley Arcade Antiques and spreads to Andy's Place and the Holly Hotel. Firefighters from 17 neighboring departments help fight it. The antique shop is destroyed. The Holly Moose Lodge and Creative Fashions are also damaged.
- February 3, 2023. Creative Fashions reopens its storefront, the first damaged business to come back, according to MLive.
- 2023. The empty arcade lot gets a new owner. During the hotel rebuild, a survey finds part of the hotel extends several inches onto that lot.
- August 2023. Holly Hotel owners Krissy and George Kutlenios file suit in Oakland County Circuit Court after talks over access to the neighboring property break down.
- 2024. Demolition starts on the badly damaged Andy's Place building. The plan is to rebuild it and keep its historic character.
- February 2025. The two sides reach an in-court settlement in the hotel case. By year's end it still isn't final.
- August 19, 2026. The judge keeps the case and sets a retrial for December.
- October 10, 2026. Andy's Place holds its reopening celebration.
Andy's Place took about two years to go from demolition to a full room.
What came back inside 208 S. Broad
WDIV described the original building as more than 150 years old and a total loss after the fire. The rebuild uses the old building's memory as its design guide. The front entrance follows the original design, and the original bricks were restored and reused. The bar top, kitchen and appliances are all new. The upstairs wall left unrepaired marks how much was lost.
The celebration ran from 1 to 10 p.m. Oakland County Times listed a limited menu from 4 to 6 p.m., with beer, wine and cocktails served during the event. The same outlet first said regular hours would start Wednesday, October 14. It later added a note that the official opening had been delayed. If you're planning dinner this weekend, check the restaurant's own page or call before you head downtown, and don't count on hours posted before the fire.
The hotel's problem is measured in inches
The Holly Hotel has stood in the village since the late 1800s. ABC12 reported that the owners began rebuilding right after the fire, and a survey then found that part of the hotel crosses the property line. The new owner of the empty lot next door objected to the hotel's west wall and roof eaves extending onto his land. Construction stopped, and the matter went to court.
The Oakland Press reported in August that, according to the hotel owners' attorney, the three years of litigation have included:
- three mediators
- at least 27 motions
- three status conferences
- two and a half days of a bench trial
- one settlement conference
The first trial ended when both sides said they had a settlement. They then couldn't agree on its final wording. At a July 20 hearing, the latest attempt stalled over one document, an engineering report on moving a wall inside the hotel. The neighboring owner's attorney explained in court that the wall is connected to the foundation, so moving it means moving the foundation too. In a December 31, 2025 letter, the hotel's owners told supporters the building is not abandoned and said they were waiting on court rulings before their masons could return.
Why one building reopened and its neighbor could not
The fire did different kinds of damage to the two buildings. Andy's Place lost its structure, and the fix was to tear it down and rebuild. The hotel's rebuild runs into a boundary, and the settlement talks have centered on a wall, its foundation and an engineering report on moving them. The hotel's owners wrote in December 2025 that they were awaiting final court rulings before their masons and craftsmen could return to the site.
The same holdup affects the empty lot. Kevin Stephison, executive director of Holly's Downtown Development Authority, described the DDA's position to ABC12:
"And as long as it is litigation, our hands are kind of tied as to what we can do from the DDA's point of view."
He said he hopes a resolution will let the village start bringing the hotel back and also address "what was the arcade at one time before the fire, see what might gets replaced on that property." The arcade site, where the fire started, has no announced redevelopment plan.
Here is where each fire-affected property on the block stands, based on the most recent public updates through mid-October 2026:
| Property | Where it stands | Most recent milestone |
|---|---|---|
| Andy's Place, 208 S. Broad St. | Reopened after a full rebuild | Reopening celebration, October 10, 2026 |
| Holly Hotel | Closed, restoration paused | December 2026 retrial scheduled |
| Former Battle Alley Arcade Antiques site | Vacant lot | No redevelopment plan announced |
| Creative Fashions | Reopened | Storefront reopened February 3, 2023 |
| Holly Moose Lodge | Holding lodge events as of March 2026 | Queen of Hearts drawing set for March 16, 2026 |
What the December retrial decides for the block
On August 19, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Jacob Cunningham denied a motion to remove himself from the case. That keeps the December retrial in front of the same judge. As The Oakland Press reported, he closed the hearing by telling both sides they knew where to find him if they wanted to schedule a settlement conference first. He also said the engineering report was the key issue last time, and that two attorneys could write a settlement with contingency plans for competing engineering reports.
The retrial is on the calendar for December, and the judge has left the door open to a settlement conference before then. The DDA has said it's waiting for the case to be resolved before it can act on the hotel or the arcade lot. Stephison told ABC12 he's looking forward to a grand reopening day when the village can say "Here we are. It's back. It's up and running," and to seeing Battle Alley "back to its full operational potential."
For now, the block is part rebuilt and part waiting. One restaurant is back with new brick and a scarred wall left on purpose. Next door, a hotel is waiting on the court, and the corner lot where the fire began is still empty.
The Holly Hotel's restoration paused over a survey line. If you own an older building in downtown Holly, or you're thinking about buying one, Sold by Emily can help you put together the surveys, records and local contacts that show what you're actually working with. Schedule your free consultation.
