By Bill Di Santo

I didn’t set out to become a builder. I grew up on the South Side of Chicago in a working-class town called Riverdale, where most of us followed in our fathers’ footsteps—into the trades, steel mills, or factory floors. But somewhere along the way, I saw something different across the street: a neighbor who owned his own architecture firm. He had a beautiful family, a Jaguar, and a different kind of life. That image planted a seed.

So I went to college, chose architecture, and earned my degree from the University of Illinois. But like many others in the mid-70s, I walked out into a tough job market. Still, I stuck with it—earned my license, married young, and became a father. Reality hit hard when my wife, working as a cashier, made more than I did as a licensed architect. That was the first of many pivots in my career, always guided by one thing: responsibility to the people who depend on me.

Learning the Business from Every Angle

Over the years, I worked for architecture firms, developers, and national construction companies. I helped design shopping centers, build massive mixed-use developments, and even ran regional offices for a national retail contractor. I learned the business from every angle—design, construction, development. I also saw what happens when companies grow too fast or forget what made them great in the first place.

A Company Born Out of Crisis

In 2004, the company I worked was going under. Projects were half-finished. Clients were left hanging. Subcontractors weren’t getting paid. And a lot of good people—my people—were about to lose their jobs. That’s when I decided I wasn’t going to let the story end like that.

I worked out a deal to buy the assets from the owner of the Chicago and Boston offices. I took on the risk, the backlog, and the debt—because I believed in finishing what we started. Not just for the clients, but for the employees and subcontractors who had built their reputations on our promises.

Englewood Construction was never supposed to last more than a couple of years. It was a bridge to help people exit with their heads held high. But something happened during those early years: we built a culture of loyalty, execution, and accountability. We stuck together—through downturns, through COVID, through the unpredictable world of construction. That temporary bridge became a foundation for our success.

Built on Principles, Not Promises

Today, we’re 20+ years in. We’ve built projects in 48 states. We specialize in retail, restaurants, senior living, and commercial interiors. We don’t try to be everything to everyone—we stay in our lane and do what we say we’re going to do. That’s been our promise from day one: no gimmicks, no shortcuts. We don’t aim to be the cheapest—we aim to be the best.

I believe our success is rooted in a few simple principles:

Say what you’ll do—and do it.
Put quality and communication first.
Respect the architect’s vision—and bring it to life with a builder’s eye.
Treat your people like family—and your clients like partners.

What We Build—and Why Clients Trust Us

Englewood Construction is known for high-quality national rollout programs, complex retail and restaurant environments, shopping centers, and senior living communities. We thrive in multi-site builds because we bring consistency, brand sensitivity, and speed to every job—whether it’s across town or across the country.

Our clients trust us because we stay in our lane and execute with discipline. We don’t take on work we can’t deliver. We don’t promise shortcuts or impossible timelines. We tell the truth, we plan smart, and we deliver—project after project. We’ve built long-term relationships with some of the nation’s top brands because we make their jobs easier and their projects better. They know our teams will be there early, stay late, and make sure it’s right before we hand over the keys.

We’re not in the business of chasing trends—we’re in the business of doing exceptional work with people we respect, in sectors we know inside and out.

Loyalty Built This Company

I’m proud of what we’ve built. But more than that, I’m proud of who we’ve built it with. We’ve had remarkably low turnover—some of the same folks have been with me since the 1990s. They’ve been through the tough times, trusted me when they had every reason not to, and never stopped showing up for each other.

We’ve been tested—through 2008, through the pandemic, through market swings—but we never missed a payroll or cut salaries. That’s loyalty. That’s trust. And you can’t buy that kind of commitment. You earn it by standing shoulder to shoulder when it matters most.

Looking Ahead

My vision now is simple: pass the torch. I’m not ready to hang it up just yet—I love coming in every morning, talking through challenges, helping the younger folks grow. But when that time does come, my goal is to hand this company over to the people who made it what it is. They’ve earned it.

To anyone in the commercial construction world reading this—GCs, developers, architects, trades—you know this business isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s about trust. It’s about grit. And it’s about people. At Englewood, that’s what we’re still building: not just buildings, but relationships that last.

Thanks for being part of the journey.

—Bill