Industry Insider: Ray Franczak
Ray Franczak and his partner and brother-in-law, Bob Lewandowski, believe in finding a niche and being faithful to it.
For more than 40 years, R. Franczak and Associates has been constructing multifamily residential buildings, first in Chicago and more recently, in the North, Northwest and West suburbs, and they plan to continue this winning formula into the future.
“We specialized in one thing and just continually improved how we did it,” Franczak said. “We didn’t try to go off and build single-family homes or commercial buildings. That isn’t what we know. We stayed with what we do well.”
Consequently, the company is well known for its high level of customer service and the quality of its product.
“That is a result of us keeping our eyes on the store,” Franczak said. “We pride ourselves on the fact that, unlike much of our competition, we have never been sued by a homeowner or by a homeowners association. Our reputation in the business is excellent.”
The company was begun in the late 1960s by Franczak’s father, Roman, who built three-flat buildings in Chicago that were then rented out for income.
As a teenager, Ray worked with his father, painting, cleaning and eventually managing some of the apartments.
After he graduated from John Marshall Law School in 1981, Ray joined his father’s firm and the two jointly decided to start building suburban condominiums, obtaining land in Des Plaines. Their first building was a 24-unit condo building called Cora Court. After it was complete, Roman turned the company over to Ray and retired to Florida.
Several years later, in 1987, Lewandowski joined the family business. Today, Franczak serves as president, handling land acquisition, zoning and financing. Lewandowski is vice president and handles the construction side of the business.
What is your dream house?#147;I would love a Key West-style home on the water in Florida.#148;What is your favorite new home amenity?#147;Wine cellars.#148;What is the most valuable lesson your father ever taught you?#147;Respect your customer and the people who work for you. You are no better than they are. Pay them on time and pay your bills on time. And if you can, pay your loans back early. All of that together will earn you a great reputation.#148;The details:On average, R. Franczak and Associates has built between 30 and 40 units per year in suburban downtowns including Des Plaines, Palatine, Mount Prospect, Arlington Heights, Wheaton and Skokie. But most of its work has been done in Des Plaines and Palatine.Between 2004 and 2006, at the height of the building boom, the company was building more than 300 units per year, Franczak said, and selling them to empty nesters and young professionals, primarily.Currently, Franczak has three condominiums available in the 48-unit Heritage of Palatine building. Those units now start in the high $200,000s.#147;Prices are still soft, but they are starting to firm up. I think that the big hit has already been taken.#148;Earlier this year the company broke ground next door to the Heritage on seven row homes called the Heritage of Palatine Brownstones. They start in the high $300,000s and five of them are already under contract.What is the best part about being a builder?#147;Since it has been awhile since we broke ground on a new project, I have to say that the best part of the business for me is going out to the construction site and seeing the carpenters, plumbers and electricians working again. I love hearing the sounds and smelling the smells of construction.#148;Franczak said putting together a new deal involving several parcels of property and several owners is also fun and challenging.What are the biggest changes you have witnessed in the business?#147;When I started in the business, we were building two-bedroom, two-bath, 1,200-square-foot units with vinyl floors, Formica countertops and cultured marble vanity tops. Gradually things morphed and we found ourselves building much bigger and nicer 1,500-square-foot units featuring stainless steel appliances, Corian or granite countertops and wood floors.#147;Now I see things going back in the other direction. People are making do with less again.#148;Future plans:#147;In five years I hope we will be crawling out of this slump and looking back, wondering how we survived it.#147;I don#146;t see our business ever returning to the scale we saw during the bubble, but the demographics are still there. Households are still being formed and the demand for new housing is still there. So we will continue to build multifamily condominiums and townhouses.#148;For more information, visit www.rfranczak.com or call (847) 705-6238. 33192382Ray Franczak, left, and Bob Lewandowski, partners in R. Franczak and Associates, are building these condominiums in Palatine. Franczak is president of the company, while Lewandowski is vice president.Bill Zars/bzars@dailyherald.com