The development Web site is offline and the marketing team recently changed, but developer Bernie Schmidt of Schmidt Luxury Homes says he still plans to go forward with Solar Verde Estates, the 20 “zero-energy” single-family homes he has planned for the 9500 block of South Marquette Avenue in South Deering.
“There really hasn’t been anything done in the past eight months,” says Schmidt. “Nothing.”
Although three homes have been sold, just two models have been built so far, and Schmidt says he’ll have to sell five more before he can start building. In order to “get some fresh blood and inject some energy into it,” as Schmidt puts it, marketing duties recently switched from Coldwell Banker to Urban Search Realty.
When Yo first wrote about Solar Verde in 2007, the homes were priced from the $330s to the $370s. Now, Schmidt says the base price is in the $290s, which he acknowledges is still quite a bit higher than the neighborhood’s median prices.
“We want the green urban pioneers,” Schmidt says. “That’s what we’re looking for: young people who want to see this stuff.”
Schmidt says the value of the solar system on each home retails at about $50,000 before tax breaks, which is quite a bit pricier than the photovoltaic systems I wrote about a couple weeks ago, but that’s because Schmidt is using solar shingles instead of the more common solar panels.
Schmidt estimates that buyers will save $3,000 to $4,000 per year on energy costs, and that the “break even point” – the length of time it would take for the solar systems to pay for themselves – is about 10 years.
We haven’t been down to South Deering to visit Solar Verde, but Dennis Rodkin from Chicago magazine did over the summer, and he made the video that’s embedded below.
NewHomeNotebook:
• Rate and review Solar Verde
Related posts:
• How much does it cost to install solar panels? (Jan. 28)
• Solar Verde breaks ground on 20 green houses on far South Side (May 8, 2007)