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More change coming to area home industry

John Carroll, president of Ryland Homes' Illinois division, has had a storied career that is about to get even more interesting.

After graduating from the University of Illinois with a degree in civil engineering, Carroll spent six years with Centex Homes, followed by 18 years with Chicago-based Kirk Homes. In fact, he rose to chief executive officer there before the firm succumbed to market pressures.

In late 2009, he took over as president of Ryland Homes' Illinois Division, where he engineered that firm's rise to become the Chicago area's largest homebuilder in 2014. In fact, he predicts Ryland will once again finish No. 1 or 2 in 2015 among Chicago area homebuilders, in terms of homes closed.

Now Ryland Homes, a publicly traded national company that builds homes in 17 states and the District of Columbia, has announced it is expected to merge this fall with Standard Pacific, another publicly traded homebuilder that now works in seven Southern and Western states. The new firm will be called CalAtlantic Group Inc.

Carroll will then have gone from working as a child for his father's small, family-owned firm, to working for what is expected to become the fourth largest public homebuilding company in the United States - with lots of stops in between. Of course, that all depends on shareholder approval of the proposed deal.

Ryland and the Chicago market

"We expect the Illinois division to close between 550 and 600 homes this year in 19 active product lines located all around the Chicago area," Carroll said. "Some communities, like Talamore in Huntley, have several different product lines and we count them all separately.

"Our target market ranges from first-time buyers to first- and second-time move-up buyers, and we also market to active adults. Our products vary from community to community."

For instance, at Tuscany Woods in Hampshire, alongside single-family homes the company sells duplexes and townhouses starting at $104,900. Most buyers there are first-time buyers and some are empty-nesters who want to downsize. In Endare, the active-adult portion of Talamore, Ryland sells ranch homes that start in the $160,000s.

And in Bolingbrook at its Herrington Estates community, Ryland sells single-family homes that are base priced from $280,000 and often sell for well over $400,000.

"We ring the entire Chicago market and extend into northwest Indiana, but we do not build in the city of Chicago. We are a suburban builder and that is a very different market, although we do build some urban-style townhouses in the suburbs," Carroll said.

What is your philosophy?

"We strive to build a quality home and give our buyers a terrific value, both on what they can readily see and what they cannot see, because both are equally important.

"We are value-conscious but we also have a high expectation. We want our buyers to be able to live in their homes as long as they want to be there and we want the homes to hold their value. We also want every home to have both curb appeal on the outside and be livable on the inside."

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

"Of course, I have seen a tremendous run up in the size and price of homes over the years that I have been in the business, and I have seen an evolution in the types of multifamily homes that are popular.

"Today, single-family homes are incredibly affordable. If you are thinking about buying, there is no better time to buy. We have both low prices and low mortgage rates."

What is the best part of being a builder?

"Builders create things. We provide homes and neighborhoods. I like nothing better than driving my kids through the neighborhoods I have had a hand in building over the years and seeing how they have matured. It is wonderful to be able to know that we created a place where families continue to grow."

What does the future hold for Ryland?

"With the combined company, I believe we will become even stronger financially. We will truly become a powerhouse that will be even better able to offer great values to our customers because of our increased buying power.

"We will also be able to expand into additional submarkets both thoughtfully and methodically because we will have greater resources with which to capitalize on opportunities in the marketplace."

For more information about Ryland Homes, visit www.ryland.com and click on Illinois.

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