A car isn’t everything. You can live without one. Amy Goodman does. She doesn’t own a car, and has no immediate plans to buy one. That’s fine with her because an auto isn’t necessary for her lifestyle at her new condominium in north suburban Glenview.
Goodman has purchased a one-bedroom unit at Dewes Court, an Optima Inc. development to be built just east of the Metra/Amtrak train station on the Milwaukee District’s north line.
She plans to rely on rail transportation to commute to work in Chicago and to visit friends in Grayslake and Wisconsin.
How important was the transit-oriented location of Dewes Court?
“It was everything,” said Goodman.
She is one of a growing number of people choosing to live near railroad stations because of the transportation convenience.
It’s an old idea that’s making a comeback.
The technology of the 19th Century is high-balling its way into the 21st Century, as developers have punched their tickets into the new millennium with residential projects being built along rail corridors that were first laid down in the years after the Civil War.
The back-to-the-future trend is called transit-oriented development (TOD), or “new urbanism.” Proponents maintain that new residences built near mass transit reduce dependence on the automobile and slow suburban sprawl.
In his book, “The Next American Metropolis,” Peter Calthorpe spells it out: “The alternative to sprawl is simple and timely: neighborhoods of housing, parks and schools placed within walking distance of shops, civic services, jobs and transit–a modern version of the traditional town.”
“TOD is a buzzword today,” said Steve Hovany, president of Strategy Planning Associates, a Schaumburg-based real estate research firm.
“A lot of old suburban downtowns grew up around train stations, and now many of them are being refurbished. Many suburbs are rethinking how to do things better, and they’re rediscovering the value of old ideas. Residential, transit and retail work together as a package. TOD is part of the smart-growth trend. We’re likely to see more of it,” said Hovany.
“The guys at the RTA and Metra are pushing TOD. They see it as the answer to their future.”
Hovany noted, though, that one of the shortcomings of mass transit is that some of the Chicago area’s major employment corridors were developed along interstate highways, not railroad tracks, and therefore can only be served by auto.
“Transit, which increases the walkability character of residential neighborhoods, is an enormously important facet in anti-sprawl,” said Anton Nelessen of A. Nelessen Associates, a Princeton, N.J.-based firm specializing in vision planning community design.
The Chicago area is ripe for new transit developments because of its existing rail network. “You have to have transit first to make it happen,” Nelessen said.
He noted that while nationally only 5 to 15 percent of the people are transit users, the number is substantially higher locally.
That was confirmed by Lynn Otte, manager of marketing development for the Regional Transit Authority (RTA).
“Two-thirds of Chicago residents have ridden mass transit in the past year, 38 percent in the past month and 20 percent are frequent users,” Otte said.
In addition to the convenience factor, transit-oriented developments have an economic advantage: “People will pay a premium to live near stations,” said Aaron Gruen, an urban economist and real estate market analyst. His firm, Gruen + Gruen Associates, based in Oak Park and San Francisco, studied the effect of CTA and Metra stations on residential property values.
“Based on actual sale prices, people will pay up to a $36,000 premium for single-family homes located 500 to 2,640 feet from a station. Living close to transit means you don’t have to buy a second car or pay for parking,” said Gruen.
His advice to developers is to build within a mile of stations.
Many of them are doing just that.
“We always market the advantage of walking to a nearby train station,” said David Hovey, president of Glencoe-based Optima Inc., developer of Dewes Court. He said 10 of his firm’s 12 residential projects have been within walking distance of transit.
“Residences increase the vitality of central business districts and decrease traffic congestion because people can walk to stores,” said Hovey.
He estimated that the promimity of rail transportation will influence 20 to 25 percent of the buyers at Dewes Court, where prices range from $164,000 to $275,000.
Optima also is launching two other condo developments near train transportation–The Cloisters, at the southeast corner of Glenview and Waukegan Roads in Glenview; and Lake Courts at Lake Avenue near Ridge Road in Wilmette.
Glenview also will be the future home of a mega TOD project–the redevelopment of Glenview Naval Air Station. A new Metra station, scheduled to open on the eastern edge of the 1,121-acre former base, will serve some 1,000 new residences that will be built.
A rail-oriented development has even has come to Naperville, that western suburb of vast auto-based subdivisions, which include an increasing number of new homes with three-car garages.
“People rely on their cars here, so anything that can minimize traffic congestion is our goal,” said Robert Kallien, Naperville’s director of community development.
Now under construction is Railway Plaza, which has been designed to capitalize on its location next to Metra’s Illinois Highway 59 station on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line. It is one of the busiest stations in the Chicago area.
The 32-acre project being developed by Wiseman-Hughes Enterprises is planned for 417 rental apartments and 75,000 square feet of retail space, with such uses as a bank, drugstore and day-care center.
“It was a rare opportunity to do this,” said Kallien. “This is Naperville’s first and probably only transit development. The city even had more grandiose visions of taller residential buildings with more density.”
The apartments will be built in 13 three-story brick-and-aluminum-sided buildings with 34 units each. The one- and two-bedroom apartments will average 1,200 square feet. Rents will be around $1,000 to $1,400 a month, according to James Hughes Jr., the Wheaton-based developer.
He said the first occupancies will be in July, with completion of all buildings a year later. Leasing will be handled by Lincoln Property Management.
Planned by Hitchcock Design Group of Naperville, Railway Station also will include a clubhouse with a business center, exercise room, lounge and outdoor swimming pool.
“The walkway system to the train will have four gazebos, encouraging the socializing of residents,” said Hughes.
North suburban Highland Park has been a pioneer in transit-oriented development in its central business district, according to Peter Waldock, director of community development.
“The city’s 1976 master plan called for a concentration of office, commercial and residential uses near the train station,” said Waldock.
“The rationale was to provide a population base to support the local businesses. Living downtown means a reduced use of autos because residents can walk from their condo to the grocery or other stores,” he said.
“Most planners today believe TOD is sound planning because of its benefits,” he said. “We’ve been successful in meeting our goals. Redevelopment has been helped by favorable market conditions in recent years.”
Waldock said that six residential projects with a total of 236 condos are under construction or in the final approval process.
“Highland Park is here because of the train. Many of Chicago’s suburbs were founded because they were beside a rail line,” he added.
One of the new projects is the Commons of Highland Park, which is planned for two five-story buildings with 48 units each. The one- and two-bedroom condominiums will average about $270,000, according to David Dubin, president of Dubin Residential Communities, the Chicago-based developer.
Arlington Heights also has scored with TOD. Located on Metra’s Union Pacific northwest line, the suburb generates 3,200 daily commuters into Chicago.
“We’re creating an 18-hour downtown with new residential projects,” said Charles Perkins, the village’s director of planning.
More than 650 residential units have been built downtown in the last 10 years, and another 600 units are under construction or in the planning process. Those being built now include 63 units at Metropolis, 264 units at Village Green and 100 units at Arlington Town Square.
A mixed-use project, Town Square will have 25 stores, a six-screen movie theater, indoor and outdoor restaurants, 330 underground parking spaces and 35,000 square feet of offices. A development of Joseph Freed and Associates, it is scheduled to open late this year.
Metropolis will showcase a 400-seat performing arts center, while Village Green will be built in three 8- to 10-story buildings.
Centennial Crossing in north suburban Vernon Hills even looks like an old railroad town.
“We wanted to model it after turn-of-the-century rail communities in the Chicago area,” said Ed Fitch, executive vice president of marketing for Town & Country Homes, the developer.
The entrance to the neo-traditional-style development is across the highway from the Vernon Hills station of Metra’s North Central line. Most homes are within a five-minute walk.
“The convenience of the station for commuting into Chicago has been a strong factor for many buyers,” said Fitch. He added that the proximity of transit is an asset that could mean a $10,000 to $15,000 premium when homes are resold.
Realizing that transit sells, several residential developers have given their projects railroad names.
Among them is Burnside Station in Mokena, which even named its models after famous trains: the Orient Express, the Silver Streak and the Zephyr.
Located a short walk from Mokena’s 96th Avenue, or Hickory Creek, station on Metra’s Rock Island line, Burnside Station offers townhouses priced from $128,400 to $140,900.
Other “stations” can be found in downtown Chicago. Located within walking distance of commuter stations are the residential developments of Kinzie Station and Fulton Station.
In addition, the downtown projects provide a reverse commute twist to TOD. Some of the new loft buyers plan to live downtown and work in the suburbs.
The spread of TOD has the active backing of the Regional Transit Authority, which can provide towns with technical assistance.
“A lot more communities are asking questions about TOD. Many of them want to do something. They see value in capitalizing on their transit asset,” said Otte of the RTA.
