Any new subdivisions? (Chicago, Schaumburg, Burr Ridge: houses, employment, buyers)

[DoneWithDallas]

What suburbs of Chicago have new subdivisions? I'm not sure how these things work up here in Chicago. Here in Dallas there are hundreds of new subdivisions in every suburb, I'm assuming that there are some new ones in the Chicagoland area but again I'm not sure how it works.

[knitgirl]

If you're Done with Dallas, why do you want to replicate what you have there? Most new subdivisions are pretty far out from employment areas and may not be your best bet for long term investment. You need to figure out where you'll be working and then look for subdivisions in commuting range.

[DoneWithDallas]

I'm not leaving Dallas because of the subdivisions. I want to know whats out there for options. Trust me, theres no replication of Texas up here in Chicago.

[Alacran]

Originally Posted by DoneWithDallas

I'm not leaving Dallas because of the subdivisions. I want to know whats out there for options. Trust me, theres no replication of Texas up here in Chicago.

That's right.

I don't know what kind of subdivision you're looking for.

To me a subdivision is this:

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&l...13797&t=h&z=16

[summer22]

Basically, the Chicagoland area is built up to a radius of 40-50 miles from downtown.

There could be some new construction (entire subdivisions, new plats) in the far suburbs in any direction... far West, far Southwest, and far North/Northwest could be worth looking into. Talk to a Realtor.

There are rarely inner parcels that are redevelopment sites (such as a large factory or industrial area being rezoned for housing.) I don't recall seeing any such stories in the news recently.

Here in Northwest Indiana, I'm not aware of any newly platted subdivisions that were built since about 2005. We did have a building spree of sorts in the mid-2000's, but developers have not been that active since then with major new construction.

[DoneWithDallas]

I think I'm just trying to gauge how housing works. I'm familiar with downtown, of course, and I've visited a few northern suburbs but not enough to see how it works really. Does that make sense? I'm not sure if there are subdivisions, scattered houses, or what. I don't need a subdivision per-say, but a newer house is preferable.

[chet everett]

For the most part the attractive suburbs in the region have generally been developed with traditional grid layouts centered around rail-centric suburb business districts. The most obvious exception to this are the higher end suburbs like Oak Brook, largely developed during the peak of late 1960s suburban office park boom, Burr Ridge to south which was similarly a by product of such shifts that happened slightly later,
and Long Grove to north. Arguably there are probably some similar patterns that happened in other parts of the region, but none of been as influential at the high end. In terms of scale / scope the "regional mall" driven development around Schaumburg's Woodfield has been more of a mid-market trend, with not too many direct analogues.


Depending on your price point there are some areas with a fairly nice mix of newer / brand new construction that is done on sites where smaller / obsolete homes have been torn down. I would say the minimum price point for this, including both the land and the completed home, starts very near $500k and goes to more than triple that. Technically, if you have the resources and time you could this sort of thing in any desirable area...

There are very few "mass builders" active in the broad Chicago region. The recent history of massive price reversals in some of the areas where farmland has been converted to subdivisions has caused both developers and buyers to be MUCH more cautious. In a broad sense the employment of the Chicago region is if not truly contracting then at least consolidating around traditional employment centers, most of which have a solid supply of housing nearby. This is not terribly different than other markets around the country -- I know a little bit about the broad Dallas market and even the massive expansion that was happening in places like Allen and McKinney has slowed / reversed. The major difference though is that the whole Dallas "metroplex" still is seen as friendly to business / attractive cost-of-living while Illinois' terrible fiscal mismanagement is not attractive to businesses nor does our relatively high cost of living appeal to the kinds of folks able to relocate...

[pvande55]

A few starting up again but still very few. Of course a few years back there were plenty. Metra rail lines were even extended to Elburn and Manhattan (IL), about 50 miles outside the loop, to serve them. As Chet said, the attractive suburbs were built out long ago and are prohibitively priced.

[chet everett]

I don't think I said "prohibitively priced".

If one has the kind of career / resources which give you the ability to spend upwards of $500K there are lots of options...

[pvande55]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I don't think I said "prohibitively priced".

If one has the kind of career / resources which give you the ability to spend upwards of $500K there are lots of options...

OK, those words are mine. Since over half of families in IL have an income below $100K, $500K is prohibitive for most, unless they hit the jackpot, perhaps with a former sale.