Buyers look for low maintenance, high energy

Activities and services offered by low-maintenance communities have moved into a new era.

Developers realize amenities they offer in a community have a strong impact on the decision to buy or not to buy, so they have spent many hours analyzing the options and have come up with some exciting new ideas.

For instance, New England Builders opted to include a business center in its Stonebridge of Lake Bluff community, realizing that many empty nesters today work part-time, act as consultants or continue their private accounting or law practices from home.

The 3,500-square-foot facility will be located inside of the 100-year-old William Kelley Mansion on the property. It will include a conference room, binding facility, reproduction facility, audio visual equipment and will be run by a professional management company, said Chris Rintz, president of New England Builders.

"I have heard from buyers that they feel uncomfortable about meeting with clients inside their home, stepping over laundry on their way to the study. So this will give them a truly professional place to meet and do business," Rintz said.

He is also offering his buyers a concierge service similar to that found in a hotel. The concierge will be able to make dinner reservations, get show tickets, check on an owner's pet and so forth. And elsewhere in the mansion there will be a large health club facility. Walking trails through the wooded estate will also abound.

"We are offering single-family homes here with the amenities of condominium living, but without the hassle of living in a multifamily environment," he explained.

For a $300 to $500 per month assessment, owners at Stonebridge of Lake Bluff have their lawns maintained, snow removed, gutters cleaned and so forth, as well as access to the business center and health club. But owners are responsible for maintaining the exterior of their home when it comes time to paint or replace a roof or window.

Down-sizers and young professionals who want a bustling suburban environment where there is always a lot of activity, but the assessments are not outrageous, seem to be drawn to retail communities like the Burr Ridge Village Center being built by OPUS North.

"Our buyers like the fact that because of our retail clients, we have a full-time on-site management company that makes sure the property always looks perfect," said Matt Nix, senior real estate director for Opus North. "The retailers are responsible for the exteriors of the buildings, the landscaping and the holiday decorations. The condominium associations are only responsible for the lobbies, corridors and parking garages, so there is less of a burden on the homeowners."

The costs of landscaping, snow removal, security and the like is also offset by the annual fees paid by 200,000 square feet of retail clients, Nix explained.

"Our residents also enjoy the many free events planned by the retailers, ranging from movie nights on the lawn to farmers markets, wine tastings and car shows," he continued.

"When we had a movie night on the Village Green this summer, we put up a big inflatable screen and many of the residents sat out on their balconies with a glass of wine and enjoyed the show," Nix said.

Even the more traditional low maintenance communities are rethinking the options they offer, based on resident feedback.

Unlike earlier communities that focused on golf courses to the exclusion of most other activities, builders are now investing in other pastimes for their residents.

Kimball Hill, for instance, is offering a community grill, bocce ball courts and other unique things at its Mayfair community in Naperville.

Carillon at Stonebridge in Aurora by Cambridge Homes, an active adult community that features single family homes, offers bocce, pickleball, tennis, a large lake and walking trail, a billiards room, card room, library, computer room, aerobics room, arts and crafts room, meeting room, outdoor pool and large exercise room, in addition to the large banquet room with adjoining kitchen.

"People are much more health conscious today than they were in the early 1990s when we started building Carillon communities," explained Dave Smith, vice president of sales and marketing for Cambridge Homes. "So we have expanded the square footage we devote to workout facilities.

"And people want to be active but they want to do things that are easier on them, so in addition to tennis we offer pickleball, which is a cross between tennis and badminton and is played on a tennis court, and we have redesigned our indoor pools with more shallow areas and a more gradual slope so that they will be better for aerobics classes," he explained.

As for golf courses, they are too expensive today, costing an average of $2.5 million for nine holes, according to Smith. "And 80 percent of our customers don't play golf. So we are putting in three-hole courses at two of our communities - Carillon Club in Naperville and Carillon at Cambridge Lakes in Pingree Grove. We will have three or four tees on each hole so that you can play it from a variety of angles, but it will cost far less to build and maintain."

"We are also adding a sports bar area to our new clubhouses, based on requests from former customers," he continued. "They feature pool, poker and big screen televisions and are very popular where we have put them in. They don't serve food, but people can bring in their own."