'Coastal' community just a short drive from suburbs

While raising four children in Naperville with his wife, Sandra (aka "Pete"), Tom Heimsoth found it could be very difficult to get away for a relaxing, fun-filled weekend with the family.

Lake Geneva had become terribly crowded and the traffic was bad. Western Michigan was an even longer drive through terrible traffic around Lake Michigan. Galena was also a long drive to a place with limited recreational opportunities.

So he started looking elsewhere and found the Starved Rock area near Ottawa, which was only 80 miles from downtown Chicago and an hour or less drive from the West suburbs. The area had a number of state parks, including Starved Rock State Park, and the Illinois River, as well as the 61-mile Illinois and Michigan Canal bike trail, which ran right through it.

A longtime boat enthusiast, Heimsoth began boating along the Illinois River and found he also enjoyed the picturesque community of Ottawa.

In 2000 he sold his Naperville-based health care and insurance software company, Resource Information Management Systems, retiring two years later; and by 2004, he was looking for another project.

"I had always done real estate development investments on the side, so I began looking for farms and land along the Illinois River in order to build a lifestyle resort community with a marina. With the help of the city of Ottawa, I managed to assemble 142 acres, which was entirely outside of the flood plain. About half of it was a former farm and the other half was an old marina and campground," Heimsoth said.

Approvals from the Army Corps of Engineers took a couple of years, but in 2006 Heimsoth and his partner, Mike Sitterly of Ottawa, moved forward as Heritage Harbor Ottawa Resort Development LLC. The company dredged 1 million cubic yards of material from the river in order to expand the old 11-acre harbor, creating a 32-acre private marina where boats are protected from storm and ice damage by a sea wall and a coffered dam.

"The Heritage Harbor marina is now larger than the one in New Buffalo, Michigan. It is the largest of its kind in the Midwest," Heimsoth, Heritage Harbor's managing partner, said. "We currently have 130 boat slips, ranging from 24 to 64 feet long. But once we are built out, we will have space for approximately 450 boats. Amenities include all electric power, Wi-Fi and city water and sewer. We are even about to start building a dry stack storage structure where we will be able to store boats up to 32-feet long during the winter months. It will be ready before this winter."

The marina at Heritage Harbor is surrounded by a wide range of the resort's "coastal style" housing, which are popular with non-boaters, as well as boaters.

"We want to appeal to all sizes and kinds of families and we wanted to make sure that when people came here, they saw something different than they see every day in the suburbs of Chicago. That is what makes us unique. This is a walkable resort community with a strong variety of authentic coastal architecture," Heimsoth said.

"We feel that most people have very special memories of the vacation times they spend together as a family. We are creating a community not too far away where people can go when they are looking for time to get away from their business and their devices so they can have some quality time to reconnect with their family and friends," he continued.

Heritage Harbor boasts 110 acres of land available for development, which Heimsoth's firm has been developing slowly and deliberately. They now have built about 70 homes of varying sizes, but when the community is totally built out, Heimsoth said that number is expected to be about 650 units (565 of which will be single-family cottages).

"Homes within Heritage Harbor, which are popular for second homes, retirement homes and investments, currently range in price from $150,000 to $800,000. In fact, we generally have between eight and 10 homes available for immediate occupancy. Buyers of our lots can choose to use our builder or they can bring their own builder and architectural plans," he said.

All of the homes are served by concrete streets and city and water sewer and they are set up in a traditional neighborhood design with streets and alleys. There are also many waterfront properties. Mid-rise condominiums are in the long-term plan, too, but have not yet been constructed, Heimsoth said.

A hotel is also planned. However, visitors have the option of renting one of about 15 of the privately-owned cottages. Heritage Harbor takes care of renting the cottages for owners who use them as investment properties or vacation retreats.

Amenities within Heritage Harbor include the Red Dog Grill, a casual year-round restaurant at the marina that offers entertainment on the weekends; three swimming pools; a 1.6-mile harbor walk; riverfront paths open to all; volleyball courts; bonfire pits; and the Quest Express boating club, which allows members to reserve a boat (runabouts, pontoons and ski boats) for a half day at a time and only pay for gas with club membership.

Beyond the confines of the community, there is a wide variety of activities available, as well. An entrance to the Illinois and Michigan Canal trail (used for hiking, biking and snowmobiling) is directly across from the entrance to Heritage Harbor. Ottawa, with its farmers market, restaurants and shops, is only three miles away. Sky Dive Chicago is five miles to the north and the area also boasts opportunities to fish, hunt, ride all-terrain vehicles or a zip line.

In addition, Starved Rock State Park, with its beautiful scenery and hiking opportunities, is 12 miles downriver. It attracts 2.5 million visitors each year and there are several other outstanding state parks that are also nearby, Heimsoth said.

"We are part of 'Starved Rock Country' and you can't find a better recreational and resort area within 100 miles of Chicago," he added.

For more information, visit www.heritageharborottawa.com.