New Developer Re-Starts Residential Project in West Suburban Chicago

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Hinsdale, Ill.–The Great Recession stopped countless real estate developments in their tracks, but in the years since the worst of the tumult, other investors have slowly found value in these never-completed projects. Recently, Oak Brook, Ill.-based Inland Opportunity Fund L.L.C. bought, through a subsidiary, the Hamptons of Hinsdale—a partially developed site in west suburban Hinsdale, Ill. According to the new owners, their goal is to reposition the property to “become more in-line with today’s buyers and values.”

Inland purchased the property from Citizen’s Financial Bank, one of the project’s original and current lenders, which will offer mortgage financing to future homebuyers at the Hamptons of Hinsdale. Financing for the project this time around will be by Grosvenor Residential Partners I L.P., which marks the British firm Grosvenor’s first residential investment in the Chicago market, though it has long invested in the area with its ownership of retail properties along Michigan Ave.

The development will consist of 26 townhomes, 93 condos and three single-family lots for custom homes. Inland has hired Wheaton-based Next Generation Development to handle construction, sales and marketing for the development.

The residential market in Hinsdale took a dip along with everywhere else, but that seems to be passed. Existing single-family homes in the village are currently selling for an average of $1.32 million, up 35.6 percent from March 2010, according to RW Real Estate Advisors L.L.C., a real estate market research firm located in Oakbrook Terrace. In addition, the median annual income among Hinsdale residents is about $127,700, which is 91 percent and 53 percent higher than that of Chicagoans and Du Page County citizens, respectively. It is an affluent place.

“The market for housing in Hinsdale has remained active during the recession and continues to enjoy active sales and increasing resale valuations,” Gail Payonk, sales and marketing director for Next Generation Development, tells MHN. “The Hamptons of Hinsdale provides an opportunity for local residents to downsize and remain within the premier Hinsdale Central High School boundaries.”

Also, she says, the price points for condos–in the upper $200s to low $500s–“will attract an ever-increasing demographic of baby boomers and gen Xers who want to reduce commute times, lessen the burden of homeowner maintenance, and locate within the major transit networks located in Hinsdale.”