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Metro
Chicago Real Estate
December 2006
"Offering the complete package - It's Winthrop's
success strategy"
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Each issue, Metro Chicago Real Estate Magazine profiles
a successful residential developer who is making an impact
on the skyline of the city and its suburbs. This time,
we feature Bob Horner, on of the managing members of Chicago's
Winthrop Properties, LLC.
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Metro Chicago Real Estate Magazine: You've been
busy lately. Can you give us a sampling of some of the
projects you have going on now?
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Bob Horner: We have two unique projects going on
right now that we're pretty excited about. In Evanston,
we have the Winthrop Club. We started sales on this in
September. It will be a 99-unit development in a 15-story
high-rise located at 1567 Maple in Evanston.
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MCREM: What are some of the unique features with
this development?
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Horner: By far, it is the most complete building
in terms of finishes that has been done to date in Evanston.
We have virtually every feature that you would expect
in a luxury home. We start with 9-foot ceilings, 4-inch
base moldings, hardwood bamboo flooring, 42-inch cabinetry,
closet organizers, all included as standard features.
We have marble countertops in the master bath. We have
floor-to-ceiling windows throughout. The doors are all
solid-core doors, interior and exterior.
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MCREM: Are there any unique amenities?
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Horner: We have a lap pool, exercise room and a
media room or club room. That room has a super large-screen
TV with surround sound, and a snack bar capability for
parties. The building itself is designed to be a green
building. We actually are designing to achieve Silver
LEED status. We will be the first to achieve Silver LEED
in the state of Illinois and the first in Evanston.
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MCREM: What steps do you have to take to earn Silver
LEED status?
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Horner: It is a long list of features. The project's
Web site, www.winthropclub.com,
goes into detail. For one thing, there is the location.
It's located less than a block from Metra, CTA and Pace
systems. The residents will have the ability to walk to
hundreds of stores and more than 70 restaurants. They
will be close to entertainment and theaters. Then there
is the fact that we are using recycled materials throughout
the building. The steel all comes from recycled steel.
The concrete has high fly ash content. That's a recycled
material.
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MCREM: What is your other big project?
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Horner: We are working on Printers Corner, which
is more than 50 percent sold. It's locate don the northeast
corner of Polk and Wells. This project is now under construction,
and is about 20 percent completed. We expect deliveries
in the fall of next year. This is an 88-unit building,
with all 88 units being one or two bedrooms. While the
average home size at Winthrop Club is 1,400 square feet,
the average Printers Corner is slightly under 900 square
feet. This project is targeted toward a younger buyer,
a first- or second-time buyer. We're also targeting it
at people looking for weekend homes in the city. We've
had a number of suburban buyers. I'd say that 25 percent
of our buyers are coming from the suburbs.
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MCREM: What are some of the special features with
Printers Corner?
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Horner: The homes here have 10-foot-high ceilings.
Each comes with a plasma screen TV. The homes have three-quarter-inch
oak hardwood flooring. The doors are 8-feet tall, both
exterior and interior, solid-core panel doors. The closets
have the organizers in the master bedroom. We have 42-inch
cabinetry and stainless steel appliances. The master bath
has marble tile and marble countertops. The secondary
bath has granite countertops.
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MCREM: The building also has an interesting layout.
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Horner: We only have eight homes on every floor.
Every home is a corner unit. We've managed to create a
corner for every home. Every bedroom is an exterior bedroom
on an exterior wall. That allows for more privacy.
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MCREM: How are you continuing to do well in the
city and suburbs even as the market becomes more challenging?
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Horner: Our strategy is to try to offer as complete
a home as possible. We think that works to everyone's advantage.
It works to our advantage because we have to deal with fewer
change orders and confusion. It works to the buyers' advantage
because we can offer them a home on a more competitive basis.
If you are buying in a whole building full of stainless
steel GE appliances, you are going to get a better price
than if we were offering them as an upgrade. It works to
the benefit of the Realtor, too. Normally they get no commission
on upgrades. If I have a building where 15 to 20 percent
of the selling price is reflected in upgrades, the Realtor
does not participate in that. In our buildings we average
only 3 percent of our selling price in upgrade sales. |
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twin strategies, then, are to find locations or sites that
may be a little more challenging in the approval process
and the design process, then build a building on those sites
that is very complete relative to the market we are competing
against. |
