The Zale Group expects to start construction this spring of a golf course community with approximately 800 homes in single-family and multifamily units in northwest suburban Buffalo Grove.
The Arlington Heights-based home building company is seeking annexation and zoning approval for the as-yet-unnamed project, according to Greg Zale, vice president of construction.
The project will occupy 440 acres bounded, roughly, by Port Clinton Road on the north, Prairie View Road on the east, Aptakisic Road on the south and Ill. Hwy. 83 on the west, Zale said.
It will be developed by a joint venture involving Zale and Northwestern Savings & Loan Association, Chicago, he said. The site is being sold to the developers by the Fiore family, which operated a tree nursery there.
”There`s approximately 7,000 trees on the land, probably one of the most gorgeous pieces of property you`ll ever come across,” Zale said. ”We believe we`ll be able to save most of the trees.”
Under a pending annexation agreement, Zale will donate to the village 120 acres on the north and south sides of Ill. Hwy. 22, which bisects the project from east to west.
The land will be developed as a regulation, 18-hole, Par 72 public golf course, with nine holes on each side of Ill. 22, Zale said.
Tentative plans for the balance of the site call for 374 single-family homes and 438 condominiums, townhouses and duplexes.
An expected 172 houses will be built on lots of 8,740 square feet apiece and have 1,900 to 2,400 square feet and prices of $120,000 to $150,000. (All square footages and prices are preliminary estimates).
Another 128 houses will be built on lots with 10,000 to 12,000 square feet each, with 2,500 to 3,000 square feet and prices of $155,000 to $175,000. Each house will have two stories, four bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, basement and attached two-car garage.
A total of 74 half-acre to full-acre lots will be spun off to semi-custom and custom home builders for development of larger, more expensive dwellings, Zale said.
The 240 carriage homes will be two-bedroom units with 1 1/2 to 2 baths, 1,200 to 1,550 square feet and prices of $90,000 to $100,000. There will be four units to a building.
The 136 townhouses, also to be constructed four to a building, will have two to three bedrooms, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 baths, 1,630 to 2,100 square feet and prices of $120,000 to $150,000. The 62 two- and three-bedroom duplexes will have 2 1/2 baths, 2,200 to 2,500 square feet and prices of $155,000 to $175,000.
Site preparation for streets and utility lines is expected to begin this spring, with groundbreaking for the first dwellings this summer and first occupancies next winter, Zale said.