It’s not next to Ravinia in Highland Park, but the new subdivision of Ravinia Woods in Gurnee plays off the music festival’s cachet and bucolic location.
Michael Schall, vice president of sales and marketing for Sundance Homes in Schaumburg, which is developing Ravinia Woods, says the 250-acre subdivision, formerly the site of the Clavey Nursery, is designed for a variety of homeowners who may have grown up along the North Shore and now want to buy slightly less expensive homes.
But what they’re giving up in cost, they’re not sacrificing in amenities in the area, in the subdivision or in the homes, he says.
“In the last three years, Gurnee has become one of the fastest-growing communities in the country, not just in Illinois,” says Schall, who cites a long list of pluses-proximity to Interstate Highways 94 and 294, nearby large corporate employers such as Abbott Laboratories and Baxter Healthcare Corp., an excellent school system, the park district and a variety of shopping centers.
Sundance paid the Village of Gurnee more than $6 million in impact fees, or approxately $10,000 per house. Such fees are a quid-pro-quo for the burden a new subdivision puts on a community and are used to pay for incremental costs to the public services such as the school system, library, fire department and park district.
The 504 single-family homes going up at Ravinia Woods, considered among the area’s largest subdivisions under way, have been designed with traditional exterior styles that meld vinyl siding and brickwork, gabled rooflines and classic styles of windows and doors.
All of the homes, whose interior styling ranges from traditional to transitional to contemporary, feature two-story plans of 1,550 to 3,118 square feet and with price tags of $160,990 to $254,990. They are divided among three distinct series, according to size and price-Vista, Ravinia and Symphony.
To date, two-fifths of the homes are finished and more than 500 residents have settled in. Completion is pegged for spring 1998.
Getting such a large project finished on time has been a major goal of Sundance Homes. The builder, one of the largest in the Chicago and the only one whose stock trades publicly (over NASDAQ), was criticized for being late in delivering homes last year at its Spring Lake Farm subdivision in Lake of the Hills.
As a result, it has guaranteed buyers at Ravinia Woods that, if homes aren’t completed by the delivery date, Sundance will pay their mortgages each day until the homes are finished. “We haven’t had a problem so far,” Schall says.
Many who’ve moved in or are close to doing so concur.
Mark and Susan Ruthenbeck moved into their home, a Seville model in the mid-price, mid-size Ravinia series on time last November, after Mark relocated for a job in Northbrook, 20 miles away. After looking at other new subdivisions and older homes, the couple decided the Seville gave them “the most bang for their bucks.”
Mary Jo and Eric Lake, who plan to move in by August to their Milan home, another in the Ravinia series, and are selling a loft in Chicago, found the development appealing because they could get more for their money than they could in a new townhouse in the city. They were attracted by the proximity of places to moor their sailboat.
The builder’s commitment to guarantee delivery is a smart move, says Tracy Cross, owner of a Schaumburg real estate consulting firm. “A number of builders had a backlog of deliveries when interest rates declined at the end of 1993 and sales were almost too successful. Most have caught up.”
In addition to the location and timely deliveries, another draw of Ravinia Woods has been the large amount of open acreage that Sundance guaranteed. Almost 80 acres, or one-third of the site, will not be built upon, and about 1,000 trees were transplanted. Sundance also is putting in a par course and bike trail.
Yet, still another magnet has been the builder’s attention to detail within all 13 designs, even the smallest. By doing so, Schall says his company has been able to target a larger pool of buyers. “Typically, a builder focuses on one price and size niche. In recent years we’ve found that that’s too limiting,” Schall says.
The tactic already has brought accolades. The Crystal model, part of the Ravinia series, features an angled front entryway and step-down family room; it was a winner in the Best in American Living Awards at the annual builders’ contest sponsored by Professional Builder magazine and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
When it came to designing the homes, Sundance took cues from prior buyers and its own pulse of the market. “Many homeowners want to customize. We allow them to make changes, except in the foundation. The custom market usually starts at $400,000. We’ve tried to satisfy that segment at lower prices,” Schall says.
Cross cites this tactic as another savvy move. “The northern Lake County area is intensely competitive, so anything a builder can do to pull out all the stops is useful.”
Sundance finds out what buyers want by taking surveys within 60 days after they’ve moved in. “We ask what they would have liked, which helps in building future houses. Changes aren’t as dramatic as with hemlines, but they occur,” says Schall, whose company constructs about 700 homes a year.
Sundance says owners currently want more “volume” and “interesting spaces” instead of the plain vanilla boxes some associate with new construction.
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Even in the smallest models, such as the 1,500-square-foot Laurel floor plan in the Vista series, the living rooms and front entrys contain two-story spaces for a grand first impression. The designs also include ledges for art or plants, windows in various shapes and sizes, molding, detailed stairway railings, a master bathroom with optional separate shower and tub, walk-in closet, dual vanities and a relic resurrected from the ’50s-the basement.
A comfortably sized eat-in kitchen with island and family room compensate for the absence of a dining room in the Laurel plan. “When space is at a premium, owners make choices,” Schall says.
The larger, more costly homes, such as the 2,300-square-foot Seville that the Ruthenbecks bought, include dining areas, larger family rooms with built-in cubbyholes for entertainment equipment, dens, bonus rooms for hobbies or guests, and sitting corners in master bedrooms. The Ruthenbecks upgraded their home to include oakwork rather than paint and better carpeting and appliances.
The Lakes looked at 20 other developments before buying their Milan design. They found the contemporary styling a major selling feature. “It’s similar to our city loft, which we loved,” says Mary Jo Lake.
At the top Symphony end, the 3,100-square-foot Crescendo design reflects how much customization can be achieved affordably.
Jeff and Diana Harbort, who live in a 1,500-square-foot three-bedroom ranch in Grayslake, but are moving in June to a Crescendo, are customizing the entertainment center, installing speakers throughout and adding a vaulted ceiling upstairs.
Criticisms voiced so far about the subdivision center around the exteriors’ blandness, reminiscent of a Grant Woods-style farmhouse, and the absence of lush landscaping on individual plots. “We didn’t love the exterior. It’s adequate, but we liked the openness within. Life’s a compromise,” says Jeff Harbort.
Cross describes the heavily gabled exteriors as typical of new homes built in Denver. “It’s called `Denver’ or `Colorado’ massing and reflects what’s done out West rather than in the Midwest. That isn’t surprising, since the architecture firm that Sundance chose is from that area.”
About the setting, owner Mark Ruthenbeck says, “We miss the trees of our former older neighborhood. But, they’re costly to plant full-grown. We should have some shade within five years.”
Ravinia Woods is at the intersection of Illinois highway 45 and Knowles Road, a half-mile north of Washington Street in north suburban Gurnee. For information, contact 708-223-2251Building on a successful note.