Eleven years later, new Lakemoor subdivision set to proceed
After years on the drawing board, a long-planned single-family housing project will be proceeding in Lakemoor.
Village officials on Tuesday gave the green light to William Ryan Homes for a 75-home subdivision known as The Savannah on the north side of Route 120 east of Darrell Road.
The project signals a thaw of sorts in the new housing market.
"It's been a very long time since we approved an entire new subdivision," said Village Administrator David Alarcon.
The Savannah, which will occupy 46 acres behind the Krueger vegetable market and farm, originally was envisioned as a 67-home development in 2006 but stalled during the recession. It resurfaced in 2015 but again did not proceed.
William Ryan Homes returned in recent months with a plan for 80 homes. It downsized the proposal to 75 homes because of village concerns with the availability of parking and space between buildings.
"I think it's a much better layout than what it was," said village Trustee Jeff Nykasa.
The project is on a fast track with mass grading expected to begin in a few weeks.
"This is still a difficult housing market. Illinois and Chicago has lagged behind just about every other market in the nation," said Nate Wynsma, vice president of land for the Glenview-based homebuilder.
Builders have been filling in empty spaces in established subdivisions, but that inventory is getting thin, said Matt Dabrowski, Lakemoor's director of community and economic development.
"It's a build off what they (William Ryan) wanted to do, but that was 10 years ago," he said.
Homes will be built on 28 of the 46 acres in a cluster style intended to preserve as much environmentally sensitive area as possible, according to Dabrowski.
Ryan has done or is in progress on several "bite-sized" developments in Bartlett, Hawthorn Woods, Algonquin, Island Lake and Lake Forest, for example, Wynsma said.
"We've been doing a lot of development, but nothing like the old days" of 200 or 300 home subdivisions, he said.
Homes will start in the high $200,000 or low $300,000 range for buyers who are moving up a first or second time.
Wynsma said proposed commercial development in Lakemoor, such as a Woodman's Food Market, did not drive the decision. Securing a future full-access intersection at Route 120, rather than right turn in, right turn out, and annexing the property to Wauconda Unit District 118 were factors in moving ahead, he said.