Amenities are still a deciding factor for suburban homebuyers

Competition among new homebuilders is fierce these days. So every builder needs an edge to attract scarce buyers and many are finding that offering unique or expansive community amenities is a very effective way to distinguish their community from others.

“You can’t just put up a building and expect people to buy into it,” Mark Smith, founder and chief executive officer of Smith Family Construction in Wheeling, said recently. “You have to be attentive to their feelings and mood and give them an experience and an environment. We have tried to create a respite at Prairie Park with our lovely waterfall, gazebo, walking trails and clubhouse.”

Located in Wheeling, Prairie Park is a condominium community of four mid-rise buildings, set behind a small, lushly landscaped park area with a waterfall and clubhouse which acts as a buffer between the residential buildings and Wolf Road.

M/I Homes offers something similar at its Shelburne Crossing townhouse community in Winfield. In addition to a premium location close to the Winfield’s train station, shopping and dining, they offer prospective buyers a small park within Shelburne Crossing with paved walks, a patio with pergola and tiered grassy seating around it.

“It is a great place for a mini-concert, cookout or children’s show,” explained Cheryl Bonk, vice president of sales and marketing for M/I Homes. “We had a jazz ensemble play there last summer. It is a nice little area for neighbors to gather for an impromptu cookout, private party or just to talk while walking their dogs.”

This little park has definitely been a selling point for Shelburne Crossing, according to Bonk. While prospective buyers may not come in looking for a park, when they are comparing Shelburne Crossing to resale homes or to other new home communities, it often sways the decision in their favor, Bonk admitted.

Airhart Construction also tries to differentiate its communities with amenities that enhance buyers’ lifestyles.

“It is critical that you have a hook,” explained Court Airhart, president. “Buyers need to be able to envision themselves as a part of something exciting.”

At Fisher Farm, a smaller-lot, low-maintenance community in Winfield, for instance, Airhart capitalized on the nearby Great Western Trail branch of the Illinois Prairie Path by extending the 8-foot-wide asphalt trail north to south through the neighborhood past a picturesque pond.

Most of the buyers at Fisher Farm enjoy an active lifestyle that is enhanced by the fact that they don’t have to shovel snow or mow their lawns, so they have more time to take advantage of the nearby Klein Creek Golf Course, the walking trails and the expansive views, explained Airhart.

Meanwhile, in downtown Wheaton, at the Courthouse Square community, Airhart and their partners, Focus Development, have taken the old stone state’s attorney’s building, designed by famed architect Harold Zook in 1938, and transformed it into a clubhouse for the neighboring residential units. They have jointly built six condominiums in the old DuPage Courthouse and Airhart eventually plans to build 46 townhouses on the surrounding property. Ten have already been sold.

“We took half of the state’s attorney’s building and sold it for private office condominiums. But the other half is the clubhouse for our residents with a workout facility on the first floor and a large meeting/activity room on the second floor, overlooking an outdoor pool and green space,” Airhart explained. “This offers our residents a place to connect with each other socially.”

Meritus Homes purchased a gated community of 27 single family homes in Inverness from another builder and they have found that its passive amenities like the conservation area adjacent to a forest preserve and the 6-foot wide walking path that has been incorporated into the community design at Creekside at Inverness Ridge are ways to differentiate their community from their competition.

“Buyers see the value in those amenities,” explained Brian Brunhofer, president of Meritus Homes. “They like the fact that the area’s natural features have been incorporated into the community plan and that they can use them to walk or jog and get out and feel a part of the community.”

Buyers also voice the feeling that the community’s wood chip-covered trails (instead of asphalt trails) speak to the area’s natural beauty and the residents’ environmental consciousness, Brunhofer added.

In fact, Creekside at Inverness Ridge’s conservation area and paths were recently selected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Chicago Wilderness for a 2010 Conservation and Native Landscaping award, another source of pride for residents.

Not all amenities that attract buyers are natural or even added by the builders themselves. Some amenities involve nearby shopping and entertainment venues, as is the case with Arlington Crossings, a new townhouse community that Pulte Homes is building in downtown Arlington Heights.

Buyers are being attracted to this community by the fact that it is within walking distance of more than 40 restaurants and night spots, the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, a multi-screen movie theater and eclectic shopping. They also like the fact that Arlington Crossings will be surrounded by historic homes dating back to the village’s founding in the mid-1800s.

“Today’s buyers want to live in communities where they never before thought that they could afford,” said Steve Atchison, president of Pulte Homes-Illinois. “Arlington Heights is a perfect example. It is a little gem where people want to live, but it has been too expensive for many people. It has a vibrant downtown and the train station is right there for commuting into Chicago and people are feeling that if they don’t act today, they miss their chance to live in a community like this.”

Pulte purchased the land, which once held a strip shopping center, from a distressed builder and plans to construct a new townhouse product with two-car garages on the site which is five blocks from downtown Arlington Heights.

“Pulte has never built in Arlington Heights before but this downturn has given us the opportunity to build a brand new product in a location we wouldn’t have considered before,” Atchison explained. “Before this downturn we would have had to build something with a higher density on this property.”

Massive communities which offer amenities like golf courses, swimming pools, community clubhouses, game rooms, workout facilities, ball fields and the like are also enjoying a resurgence of popularity as prospective buyers weigh their options and try to get the best value for their investment.

Cambridge Lakes in Pingree Grove is an 1,164-acre community with 367 acres of open space for ball fields, parks, lakes, conservations areas and woods. There is also a 30,000-square-foot community center with gymnasium, locker rooms, day care center and exercise room where family-oriented activities take place and residents gather. A full-time lifestyle director organizes and coordinates classes and activities ranging from infant massages to cheerleading camps to swimming lessons, art classes and book clubs.

“Homebuyers’ priorities have changed in the past few years. There is more of a focus on community,” explained Chris Naatz, vice president of sales for Cambridge Lakes builder DR Horton. “People feel that it is important to network and connect with one another now. In fact, I would say that right now lifestyle issues are as important, or even more important, than the house. Buyers want the whole package because they know that they can meet people through activities and through their children’s activities so the fact that we are offering a large place for people to meet each other has made our sales at Cambridge Lakes very successful.”

Ray Blankenship, area vice president for Town and Country Homes, agreed. “Now more than ever, because of the economy, people want the best value possible. The days of cookie cutter homes in cornfields are gone. People at least want walking trails and parks in the community where they buy a home.”

At Churchill Club in Oswego, Town and County offers an 8,400-square-foot community clubhouse with a swimming pool, kiddie pool, splash and play area, exercise facility, game room and gathering rooms. There are also parks, trails that wind along natural wetlands and open space, on-site schools and soccer fields, sand volleyball courts, tennis courts and basketball courts that are operated by the park district.

“We are definitely outselling our competition if our home prices are comparable to theirs,” Blankenship admitted. “If they are selling their home for $40,000 less, even a clubhouse won’t sell them, but if we are at least close on price range, they will buy at the community with the amenities.”

Shodeen Homes’ Mill Creek in Geneva has found that its long list of amenities is also setting it apart.

“Nothing else in the area compares, so buyers who want amenities for their families are coming here,” said Joelle Tilche, director of sales. “We have 650 acres of wetlands, public parks, biking and walking trails, a swimming pool and community center, three golf courses — Tanna Farms, Mill Creek and the Mill Creek nine-hole pitch and putt and a village center with a small grocery store, dry cleaner and dentist’s office.”

The local YMCA runs the programming at the community center and offers discounts to residents.

The most unique community featuring recreational amenities, however, has to be the new Serosun Farms project in Kane County, located between Huntley, Hampshire and Burlington.

A working 410-acre organic farm and equestrian center, Serosun Farms will eventually include 114 custom country estates, restored prairies, recreational trails, gardens and parks, a nature center, a fishing pond, limited retail structures and a farmer’s market building.

All of the custom homes will be situated on 1-acre lots, clustered in the middle of the property, according to John DeWald, Serosun Farms’ developer. When residents look out their back windows they will see farmland, prairie or woods.

“Homeowners will be able to enjoy the benefits of living on a 400-acre farm without all of the work involved,” he said.

The developers of Serosun Farms also want to “create a vibrant community that celebrates the beauty, natural elements, farming culture and history of the site,” they state on the community’s website. “It will serve as the model for transitional areas between suburbs and farmlands.”