New Home Notebook

Homebuyers looking in the Graceland West area of Chicago’s Lake View have creative new construction waiting at 1440 West Pensacola. This 3-level, 4,000+ square foot single family home features 5 bedrooms and 3.5 baths. Custom millwork, attention to detail and high-end finishes abound.

Take the above video tour with Koenig & Strey agent Deborah Owen of the Gold Coast office to get the full scope of the home and its great back yard.

Home-buying golfers in Chicagoland looking to maximize their time on a variety of links cannot do better than the new Residences at Fountain Hills condo development in Orland Park.  White Mountain Golf Course or Willow Run are both just a few minutes from Fountain Hills. The Sanctuary and Silver Lake Country Club are within 5 miles. Check these out (and more) on this Fountain Hills golf map.

Take the above video tour to learn more about the new J. Lawrence Homes project. Fountain Hills is near the southwest side of Orland Park, a city with the tagline ‘World’s Golf Center’ emblazoned on its water tower. Units are 2 bedroom, 2 bath and start in the $180s.

The heart of downtown Winnetka is one of the most desired places to spend time in Chicagoland. Living nearby makes it all the more. J. Lawrence Homes recent renovated the Library Place townhomes. Shops, restaurants, schools, parks, a Metra station are all close. Some of the best North Shore beaches are nearby.

Take the above video tour of these rental units, ranging from $3,000 to $4,000 per month. The floor plans, from 1,800 to 2,200 square feet, feature 3 bedrooms, 2 or 2 1/2 baths and new high-end finishes. All have a full-sized laundry, garage space and a private yard.

Located at 2550 W Huron St and facing south on Smith Park, this new 4,000 square foot, 4-5 bedroom, 3 ½ bath, contemporary single-family home boasts a sprawling first floor that is open from front to back, punctuated by an open, floating stainless steel staircase. The second floor features a master suite unlike anything you’ve seen, as the large master bedroom has natural woods and a half-wall of translucent designer glass looking into a huge master bath.

One of Chicago’s little-known neighborhoods, Smith Park is anchored by a park of the same name that features a pool, field house with an indoor basketball court and multi-purpose rooms, tennis courts, baseball diamonds and newer playground.

Izabela Sloma of Sergio & Banks is our tour guide in this sponsored video.

Recent months have seen solid sales activity at Superior 110. The high-rise at 110 W Superior has only 3 units still available - a high-floor full floor and two half-floor units.

“These are desirable units,” said Greg Eldridge, who is in charge of sales at Superior 110. “They’re available only because of contract fall-throughs, a situation that’s been the story in many new developments in recent years.”

The striking Hartshorne Plunkard-designed River North high-rise is also known informally as “the blue building”.

Sergio & Banks’ Melissa Govedarica and Tina Culver takes us on a video tour of 2145 W Barry, a newly-built 5 bedroom home located south of Roscoe Village and just a half block from Hamlin Park.

This 5-bedroom, 3 ½ bath home offers large and beautifully detailed rooms with high ceilings and a warm, contemporary feel.  Soaring vaulted ceilings can also be found at the bedroom level, including those in the sprawling master bath.

The home is on a quite tree-lined street, close to Roscoe Village’s many offerings. The neighborhood holds many festivals during the summer for the enjoyment of the entire family.

Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood is one of several on the North Side seeing a flurry of build-and-buy new home and condo construction. The above video tours one of these hot properties in its infancy.

Marketed by Sergio & Banks, the featured 3-flat and two 5-flats in a prime location at 2115-23 W Wabansia St will range in price from the high $300s to the mid-$600s. Three of the 13 have already been reserved, even though occupancy isn’t slated until April and May. A model opening is scheduled for March. If past practice is any guide, the units won’t be listed in the MLS until that time.

“It’s going to be very urban classic in nature,” says Melissa Govedarica in the video.

Brook Furniture Rental, and Naperville-based Simply Staging, recently worked with Ryan Hill real estate agent Tonia DeWaele and builder Frank Miulli to transform a newly-built luxury home at 3 Baker Ln in Naperville by staging the home.

Although still a relatively new phenomenon, home staging is proving to be a valuable marketing tool when it comes to selling a home. By accentuating the available space, not to mention creating a decidedly homier atmosphere, realtors who use stagers maintain that it can have a dramatic impact on the market time for a home, with staged homes selling months faster in some instances. In today’s highly competitive housing market, any edge a seller can gain over the competition should be viewed as a major plus.

We took some before and after shots of the home, as well as stopping to chat with Tonia and Frank in its bright, open family room. As you’ll see in the video, an initially skeptical Frank finds himself pleasantly surprised by the results.

It is true. Chicago’s neighborhoods are seeing new construction, particularly among rental buildings. Long a popular Chicago structure, six-flats like the one in the above Sergio & Banks‘ video are part of the growing roster. As Melissa Govedarica explains, this building nearing completion at 1846 N California Ave offers 4 simplex and 2 duplex units with condo-quality features. 2-bedroom rents are starting at $1,500 a month.

The units include in-unit washers and dryers, balconies or patios. Garage parking comes with it, an asset in the building’s Logan Square neighborhood, bordering West Bucktown.

Boldly blue at 27 stories, luxury condo tower Superior 110 catches all eyes along Chicago’s River North skyline. Recent penthouse and half-floor unit sales have put what the locals call “the blue building” within six units of selling out.

Designed by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture to be a “gleaming gem amidst a sea of beige concrete”, this new construction high-rise carries the designer’s intent with a visual impact unrivaled by its dull-looking neighbors. With recent price reductions, remaining units are available from the $500s to upwards of $2 million.

Greg Eldridge of @properties has the listings. He details Superior 110′s immediate neighborhood in the following video:

Whether you are a first-time buyer, growing family or empty-nester, you can’t go wrong with a bonus room. According to builders and buyers alike, it provides the extra space and flexibility that make a home more livable and functional. And 2nd floor bonus rooms give you a host of options.

“We found that by putting the bonus room on the second floor, the space became more versatile,” said John Wozniak, president of Wheaton-based J. Lawrence Homes. “Because it’s tucked up by the bedrooms, it is a quiet spot to create a homework station, sitting room or library. But it also makes a nice game or toy room because it keeps all the clutter out of sight from the main living areas of the home.”

Plans with a bonus room also have a main-floor family room open to an eat-in kitchen. Other features, per plan, include a formal living and dining room, mud room and den.

Second-floor bonus rooms can be found at most of the home builder’s communities, including Ambry Estates in Lynwood, Silver Leaf in Joliet, Remington Landing in North Aurora and Midlane Country Club, a clubhouse community in Wadsworth. Base prices for the homes range from the $140,000s to the high $200,000s.

Lookout and walkout basements brighten below-grade space

With today’s new-home buyers wanting to maximize the value and function of their home, many are turning their focus to an often overlooked space – the basement. To make the most of their below-grade space, buyers are increasingly interested in lookout or walkout basements.

After the long winter we had and a rainy spring, no one wants to spend time in a dark basement, especially on a bright sunny day. The larger windows bring sunshine into the basement, creating a more inviting space. And the practicality of the walkout door from the basement to the back yard is especially appreciated in the warmer months, with kids running in and out or for people hosting backyard cookouts

.J. Lawrence Homes has homesites offering lookout or walkout basements at several of our communities throughout suburban Chicago including Midlane Country Club in Wadsworth and Tanner Trails in North Aurora, as well as at our partner builder’s, Smykal Homes, communities of Ravine Woods in Channahon and River’s Edge Landing in Minooka.

Parents really appreciate the direct access to the backyard afforded by the walkout basement, especially in the summer months when kids are wet from playing in the pool or sprinkler or sandy from digging in the sandbox. This way they bring their mess into the basement, rather than through the back door into the kitchen.

The basements, at the base price, come unfinished, but both Smykal Homes and J. Lawrence Homes can work with buyers to complete the space to suit their needs. It is far more cost effective to finish the space when constructing the home, rather than years down the line. Plus, as more young buyers purchase homes for the long-term, completing the basement allows plenty of room for the family to grow.