What do Chicagoans want from a home? Developer KB Home decided to get answers to that question and sent our surveys to people who had bought a home before it began planning its latest community, Creekside At Inverness Ridge. The developer found a market among young professionals who were being pushed out of the city by high prices and wanted to live in a big house in the burbs relatively close to shops and restaurants, but didn’t want to bother with mowing lawns and trimming hedges.
So KB Home decided to develop a community of “single-family condominiums.” That is, detached homes that buyers own outright, situated on lots that are limited common elements. The properties are covered by the Illinois Condominium Property Act and homeowners pay association fees which cover the upkeep of their yards. The two- and three-bedroom houses are priced from the $520s to the $580s.
What other insights did KB’s research reveal? Apparently this group of homebuyers wants formal dining and living rooms in addition to informal spaces, and people are requesting butler’s pantries, which they are converting into wet bars.