New homes are relatively rare in the South Triangle, with its settled communities of low-slung ranch-style houses and bungalows. But there are exceptions: on a recent drive through the area we spotted several nearly identical brick-and-limestone houses under construction.
Developer Olatunde Ogundeko, of Signature Development and Consulting Group, is building nine of these houses, which are scattered in and around Calumet Heights and Avalon Park. He says he’s hoping the development, called Signature Estates, will draw buyers in search of luxury homes who are priced out of other neighborhoods.
Ranging from the $390s to the $460s, the five-bedroom 3.5-bath houses are more expensive than other homes in the immediate area, many of which are listed in the $200s or below. But Ogundeko says he’s offering a bargain, since a comparable new-construction single-family house in the city’s northern or northwestern neighborhoods would likely cost twice as much. A quick scan of Yo’s list of new-construction single-family houses on the North Side shows most to be in the million-dollar range.
Ogundeko clambers onto the back deck of 8019 S Constance (just outside the South Triangle’s boundaries) and points out the features the house will have when construction is complete: hardwood floors, wood windows, granite counters, 11-feet-high cathedral ceilings, recessed lighting, Steinberg faucets from Germany, Jacuzzi tubs by Bellagio Luxury and a three-car garage.
This particular house, which he says is in the $450,000 to $460,000 range, has an unusually long lot: 181 feet from front to back. “Where would you get anything like this on the North Side or even in Bronzeville” for the same money, he asks.
We drive past the other houses: 9322 S Luella, 9314 S Merrill, 2113 E 93rd, 2104 E 93rd, 2106 E 93rd, 2108 E 93rd, 8349 S Constance and 8348 S Constance. With the exception of 2104 E 93rd, which isn’t out of the ground yet, he says most of them will be complete in about a month.
So far one house, 9233 S Luella, has sold, he says, and two others have begun contract negotiations. Efty A. Garba of Keller Williams Realty and David Olaoye of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage – Hyde Park are marketing the project.
Signature Estates follows on the heels of Signature Homes, two houses of the same design that Ogundeko built with a partner on South Constance. Those houses sold in May and June of 2006, he says.
