Pam Gore has got to be the most unlikely low-rent hotel operator in Chicago. She stands all of four feet 11 inches and might weigh 100 pounds. By her own definition she’s a middle-class suburban housewife.
Later her father started buying properties, concentrating on low-rent hotels. He belonged to a circle of inner-city landlords, some of whom were pretty shady. But he was different, his daughter recalls. “He wasn’t like a lot of those guys. He was warmhearted. He took care of people. He’d buy a car for $200 and sell it for $400. That looks like a big markup, but it’s really not. His friends would yell at him and say, ‘Mark it up more.’ His attitude was, I’d rather sell 50 cars than 20.”
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In 1986 Pam’s father died. Her brother, who was running the hotels, asked if she wanted to manage some of them on a full-time basis. “I wanted to clean the buildings up–there’s no excuse for that kind of sleaze,” she says. “I don’t care about whether people are gay or straight. That’s their business. But gay or straight, I don’t want them doing it in my lobby.”
She may also have to sell the Cedar because of rising property taxes. “When a neighborhood gentrifies, your property taxes go through the ceiling, no matter what kind of hotel you run. I pay about $80,000 a year in taxes at the Cedar. It’s the same for me as it is for the upscale housing. Doesn’t make any sense.”
“I had this one couple living here not paying rent–they owe me $1,000. I went and found a hot plate and electric frying pan in their room. That’s against city code. I took the hot plate, and this tenant filed suit saying I beat her and stole some of her tapes. I had to hire a lawyer, which required a $500 retainer. The lawyer calls me up and says I can settle the case by paying her $2,000. I said I’d rather spend $10,000 on legal fees than give her a penny. I didn’t do anything.”
