A new subdivision containing 69 homes with an average price tag of $345,000 is expected to be built on the former site of Quig’s Apple Orchard in Mundelein within the next two to three years.
The Mundelein village board approved a development agreement with the owner and developer of the property, K. Hovnanian Homes, in a 5-1 vote at a recent meeting.
K. Hovnanian Homes is planning to build the single-family homes, which range in size from 1,800 to 3,100 square feet, on about 20 acres of land located north of the intersection of Midlothian Road and Illinois routes 60 and 83.
Home prices in the subdivision, known as Orchard Meadows, are expected to range from $275,000 to $400,000, according to officials.
A previous development plan approved by the board in 2006 with Polcon Construction Corporation called for nearly the same number of homes to be constructed on eight cul de sacs, officials said.
The project was never completed, however, and the property went into foreclosure, wrote Victor Barrera, the village’s director of planning and development, in a memo to the board and mayor.
Barrera wrote that staff believes the new design, which includes only one cul de sac, is an improvement upon the vision laid out by the previous developer.
Developments with fewer cul de sacs promote better connectivity, walk-ability, and are less burdensome on the village’s public utilities, Barrera wrote.
The new development plan also includes an extension of Courtland Drive from the northeast corner of the subdivision to Midlothian Road, providing two entry points to the site, where the original development plan only had one, according to Barrera.
Trustee Terri Voss was the only board member to vote no on the project.
“It is full-sized, rather large homes that will be built on very small lots,” Voss said. “The developer contends this is what buyers want. I understand we need more rooftops in Mundelein. I really don’t understand that this is what buyers want, but (the developer) knows the market.”
Voss added that she was “extremely disappointed” in the amount of money the developer was willing to contribute toward the construction of a sidewalk between Courtland Drive and Hillside Drive, which is located off-site from the actual subdivision.
The developer assured the board, however, that sidewalks would be included within the subdivision and in front of all homes.
Trustee Dawn Abernathy, who negotiated the agreement alongside Voss, said she, too, wished the development would include the additional sidewalk in their plans but said she supports the development nonetheless.
When negotiations began between the village and the developer, Abernathy said the development plan only included 10 feet between the 40-foot wide homes, and that that measurement has now been increased to 15 feet.
The maximum home size was also previously planned at 3,400 square feet and has since been reduced to 3,100 square feet.
“Just because it’s not a home that will appeal to (me), I think there are a lot of people this home will appeal to,” she said.
Others agreed.
“I think this is a good project,” Trustee Ed Sullivan said. “It’s theirs to sell, so it should be theirs to design.”
Regarding the sidewalk between Courtland and Hillside, Sullivan said “that would not be a major concern, as far as my view.”
The developer expects to break ground this fall and plans to build 25 to 30 homes a year, which places the total build-out time somewhere in the range of two to three years.
