Roger Gatewood, a 46-year-old banker turned builder, has been a key factor in transforming north suburban Gurnee from a small town of the 1970s into one of Lake County`s fastest-growing communities.
A vigorous pro-growth municipal government and an abundance of vacant land, much of it acquired through annexations, attracted a phalanx of developers and home builders to Gurnee during the 1980s.
They helped to feed a 91 percent increase in population to 13,701 in 1990 from 7,179 in 1980. An additional spurt since the last census has pushed the village past the 16,000 mark.
Behind much of this growth were Gatewood and his Gurnee-based Westfield Homes Inc.
Since its founding in 1980, Westfield has developed and delivered more than 1,700 homes with a total sales volume of $200 million. More than 80 percent of these new homes have been built in Gurnee, marking Gatewood as the village`s largest single developer during the past 12 years.
Even more impressive in these times of builder-bureaucracy confrontation is the mutual respect that seems to flourish between Gatewood and Gurnee officialdom.
”He`s a good builder, fair and responsive to village concerns,” said Richard Welton, village president since 1973, when Gurnee had fewer than 3,000 residents. ”He works well with our staff and as far as the village is concerned, he`s always been right on top of it. We`ve never had any problems.”
Gatewood quickly returns the accolade.
”We`ve had a good professional relationship with the village,” he said. ”They`ve been fair and reasonable, with no surprises.”
His praise of the community extends beyond government, however.
”I`m sold on Gurnee,” he said. ”It has a good community base, a strong school district and excellent access to five major highways, including the Tri-State Tollway. It`s a good place to raise a family.”
Such enthusiasm explains why all but two of Westfield`s major developments and 1,300 of its new homes and townhouses have carried a Gurnee address.
And there`s more to come.
Next month Westfield will unveil model homes at its newest and largest development, a 200-acre subdivision on Hunt Club Road one-half mile south of Grand Avenue (Illinois Highway 132).
Centered on an 18-hole, daily-fee golf course scheduled to open in 1994, Stonebrook is to have 464 homes: 240 single-family houses, 154 townhouses and 70 duplexes.
Base prices range from $99,500 to $120,000 for townhouses and $137,400 to $172,900 for single-family homes. Gatewood said duplexes will be introduced in a later phase.
”I`m really excited – and nervous – about this development,” Gatewood said. ”It`s the biggest single project we`ve ever undertaken.”
It`s been a circuitous climb for the Falls Church, Va., youth who received his bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and an MBA in finance from the University of Chicago and went on to become three-time president of the Lake County Home Builders Association and senior vice president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago, which he will lead as president in 1993.
After serving in the Army, where he rose to the rank of captain, Gatewood worked as a senior credit analyst in the national commercial division of Mellon Bank, Pittsburgh.
”That`s when I decided what I really wanted to do was real estate development,” he recalled.
He began his real estate career in 1972 with Continental Realty Advisors, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago`s Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Co.
Based in Los Angeles, he acquired and managed income-producing properties and formed joint ventures for commercial property development.
In 1975, he returned to Chicago and joined Continental Bank`s asset swap team, formed to take quick action to protect the bank`s investments in real estate investment trusts. He later became vice president of the bank`s newly formed asset management division.
It wasn`t until 1979, however, that Gatewood found the niche that eventually would place him among the ranks of the Chicago area`s top 10 home builders.
That was the year he met Maurice Sanderman, now president of Rolling Meadows-based Sundance Homes, and worked with him as partner and general manager for Pheasant Creek, a 350-unit multifamily development in Northbrook. The two men then formed a joint venture to develop 92 single-family homes at Saddle Hill Estates near Libertyville in north suburban Green Oaks.
Sanderman remains a Gatewood fan even today, so much so that his nephew now owns a Westfield home based on his uncle`s recommendation.
”Roger has done so well,” he said. ”He`s smart, a very thoughtful man who also is sensitive to people and the housing market. He`s done a great job in Lake County while also demonstrating strong leadership for our industry.” When Gatewood bought out Sanderman`s interest in Saddle Hill Estates and completed the project, he created Westfield Homes and launched his Gurnee homebuilding boom that includes:
– Pembrook, a 170-acre development of 366 single-family homes, 68 townhouses and 40 condominiums, completed in 1988.
– Westgate, 176 townhouses and 158 single-family homes, begun in 1988 and sold out by 1990.
– Kensington Townhomes, opened in 1988 and all 141 units sold by 1991.
– Southridge, 358 single-family homes, begun in 1988; all but 12 home sites are sold. Three model homes and two other newly constructed homes, priced from $178,370 to $289,900, are now being offered for occupancy.
Since 1989, Westfield also has been developing townhouses and single-family homes in three subdivisions at Palm Harbor, north of Clearwater, Fla.
Another Westfield project, Westridge in north suburban Island Lake, has been both a source of pride and pain for Gatewood.
The development`s 262 single-family homes, begun in 1989, are now 80 percent sold. Ninety of the 160 townhouses introduced in 1991 have been sold. That success was temporarily clouded earlier this year when Westfield became embroiled in two homeowner hassles: a resident who defied subdivision restrictions on above-ground swimming pools and a home buyer who complained of a faulty foundation.
”It`s rare that problems like this occur, even when you`re building 250 to 300 homes a year like we are,” Gatewood said. ”But that doesn`t make it any easier to endure.”
The swimming pool controversy is now being resolved at the neighborhood level, ”where it`s best handled,” he said. Earlier, an appellate court ruled that Westfield can ”restrict” but not ”prohibit” such structures.
The foundation issue is currently being negotiated with the home buyer, he said. ”We`ve taken steps internally to ensure this kind of isolated construction problem doesn`t recur,” Gatewood added.
Meanwhile, Westfield`s home sales continue to set records.
”Our sales for 1991 were $48 million and we`re ahead of that pace for 1992,” said Robert Siuda, senior vice president of sales and marketing. ”Our target markets are entry-level, second and third move-up buyers, and these are the people who are buying.”
Siuda credits Westfield`s price and product range as a key to its continued success: single-family homes from $127,900 to $265,900 and townhouses from $99,500 to $123,900.
”What sets us apart from much of our competition is our more traditional-styled homes, which outlive last year`s faddish design,” Siuda says.
And Gatewood sees more of the same for the balance of the 1990s.
”We`ll continue to sell 250 to 350 homes a year and we`ll concentrate on Gurnee for at least five more years,” he said. ”As for the future, we`re looking at sites in southeast McHenry County, and that likely will be our next thrust.”
