What's it like living within an acclaimed golf course? New Kildeer development will let buyers find out
Already longtime Kildeer residents, Darren and Rani Wesley found the new custom home community of The Preserves of Kildeer at Kemper Lakes ticked all the boxes for their planned downsizing.
The couple will break ground next month on a two-lot home in the new 61-lot, secure-access community that's being built within the scenic grounds of the Kemper Lakes Golf Club.
Darren Wesley said the development will allow him to combine his loves of living in Kildeer and golfing at world-class Kemper Lakes.
“The views are spectacular,” he said. “If you're a golfer and want to walk a few holes in the morning, it's the best of both worlds.”
A partnership between Kemper Lakes owner Steve Jouzapaitis and developer Michael Menas, The Preserves offers a unique opportunity for suburban homeowners to live within a championship golf course that's hosted major PGA and LPGA events.
“The cool thing about The Preserves is that the entire property is surrounded by the golf course,” said Jeff Ohm, Premier Realty Group president and director of marketing and sales for the project.
About half the lots are sold already, Ohm said. The community is intended for buyers looking to downsize, and while The Preserves is age-targeted, it's not age-restricted, he added.
Lots listed as still available in the spring ranged from a 7,162-square-foot site priced at nearly $1.2 million to a 9,983-square-foot parcel going for $210,000.
The community's secure access will be provided by a keycard-activated gate rather than a guard.
Kildeer Chief Village Officer Michael Talbett said the project wasn't the first residential project proposed for the Kemper site but probably the best. Others were stalled by setbacks including the Great Recession of 2008 and the pandemic.
It's not the only place in Kildeer where new homes are being constructed.
“We believe that we're a desirable community to live in,” Talbett said. “We're having a housing boom in Kildeer. For a small town of less than 5,000 residents, we have a couple hundred houses being built.”
Real estate market analyst Erik Doersching — president and CEO of Schaumburg-based Tracy Cross & Associates, Inc. — said the development is unique to the area.
Not only does the golf course setting and custom home model stand out, but one of the strongest markets now is buyers in the 65- to 74-year-old age category, Doersching said.
Home construction in the greater Chicago area has not fully recovered from the recession of 15 years ago, he added. About 20,000 houses a year were being built in the early 2000s, peaking at about 25,000 to 26,000. Nowadays, that figure is about 4,000 to 5,000, Doersching said.
The market has the potential to climb to about 8,000 to 9,000 new sales per year if the supply were there, but a variety of factors are working against that, he said. They include the fact that only five publicly traded companies are building about 75% of the region's new homes, as well as the impact of the different comprehensive land-use plans of 397 Chicago-area municipalities.
“This project is a move in the right direction,” Doersching said of The Preserves of Kildeer. “This is higher end, but anything will help our supply deficiency.”
In the meantime, the Wesleys eagerly wait for the home they designed to become a reality. Darren Wesley credits his wife and the professionals they worked with for translating their vision into an architectural plan.
“My wife did a great job articulating what she wanted,” said Wesley, the executive vice president of strategic accounts and physical security at Buffalo Grove-based ACP CreativIT. “And photos help a lot.”
The designers encouraged them to talk about what they'd like to have, what they admired in other homes, and didn't mind a number of later revisions, he said.
Then came the reveal of the completed plan.
“It was like coming to life right before your eyes,” Wesley said.
More information about the developing community is available at kemperlakesgolf.com/the-preserves-at-kemper-lakes and prg123.com/the-preserves-at-kemper-lakes.