Homebuilder relies on past as it looks to the future

Airhart Construction has played an integral part of the new-home construction landscape of DuPage County for more than 50 years now. Court Airhart, president of the company and son of its founder, has played an integral role in Airhart Construction's past, beginning as a child.

In fact, throughout his childhood, Court could be seen on job sites sweeping out homes, helping to lay sod and picking up trash. His father, Mac, grew up on a farm in western Illinois and, consequently, worked hard as a child. Mac saw no reason his son shouldn't do the same.

So, Mac Airhart put Court to work. It also shouldn't come as any surprise that when Court was about 6, he dressed up as a carpenter for Halloween. That was what he knew and loved, he recalled recently.

Airhart's father graduated from Wheaton College in 1961 and promptly expanded the painting business he started as a summer job in 1959, making it a year-round endeavor. In 1964, he built his first house and continued growing the business from there, concentrating on scattered sites in Lisle, Naperville, Woodridge and Wheaton. Many of those early homes were Scandinavian-style houses with mansard roofs that were so popular in the 1970s.

In the late 1980s, the Airharts started developing their own projects, building whole communities over the next decade in Oak Brook, Wheaton, Winfield and West Chicago.

Court Airhart graduated from his father's alma mater in 1989, married in 1992 and moved to northern Virginia, where he spent seven years building homes outside of Washington, D.C. His brother-in-law, Mark Glassman, continued to work at Airhart Construction.

In 1999, Glassman placed a call to Court and "he basically told me it was time to come back to Illinois - kind of now or never," Court said. So he moved back to the Chicago area, went back to Airhart Construction and by 2002 was named president and Glassman became secretary/treasurer. Mac Airhart continues to be active in the company, as well.

Airhart Construction is currently building Courthouse Square, College Station, Mackenzie Place and Stoddard Avenue in Wheaton; Radcliff Ridge in Lisle; Dana Park in Oak Brook; Reserves of Pine Crossing Farm and Risch Court in West Chicago; and Starcliff of Winfield and Fisher Farm in Winfield. Its homes and townhouses now under construction range from the mid-$400,000s to $1.4 million.

What is your business philosophy?

"Our core value is to 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' So Airhart Construction concentrates on service to its customers. We are always searching for unmet needs and trying to meet them.

"We want to be the best builder of 20 to 30 homes per year that we can be, so we are always thinking about why people need things and why we do things the way we do them. We never want to do something simply because that is the way it has always been done."

How did Airhart Construction survive the recession?

"We have worked extremely hard to stay relevant in the housing market and to keep up with societal trends, redesigning all of our models and projects, as needed.

"Fortunately, back in 2005 we had developments in Montgomery, Geneva and St. Charles and we were looking even farther west. But we saw lots of competition from lots of builders and it made us nervous. So, we made the decision at that time to go back to central DuPage County, which had always been our niche, and concentrate on infill properties. And, ultimately, our locations helped us.

"We chose to look at established communities and identify what types of housing were missing in those communities. We understand that today's buyer has a faster, busier lifestyle. They want to have a nice patio, but don't want to have a large yard to maintain and snow to remove.

"We are concentrating on lifestyle-targeted communities with higher density, less square footage and lots of amenities. Many are located along the rail lines like College Station in Wheaton, which features 14 small lot cottages with a maintenance-free lifestyle. It is an easy walk to the College Avenue train station, too, and is popular with those of all ages with 'on the go' lifestyles.

"We are also constantly re-evaluating our floor plans and the ergonomics of living in our homes. Amenities like drop zones with boot benches, hooks, storage and places to plug in and charge phones and other devices are more important to today's buyer than square footage."

What is the best part about being a builder?

"I like meeting unmet needs and finding solutions to problems. I also enjoy the inventiveness of building homes and entire communities. I like that creative process and leaving things better than how I found them."

What are the biggest changes you have seen in the business?

"It used to be that square footage was king with buyers. But now, amenities are much more important than square footage. Today, for instance, we have buyers who want a smaller house so that they can have all hardwood floors on the first floor."

All builders have to be paying much more attention to how people really live, too, Airhart said.

Where do you see Airhart Construction in five years?

"I hope I will see Airhart Construction building better, even more-interesting homes than we are today. We always want to be improving. But I expect we will still be building infill niche communities in DuPage County."

For more information, call (630) 665-5700 or visit www.airhartconstruction.com.