Guest Speakers John McLinden and Andy Hermann - January 26, 2016

Floral Avenue, a new-home community that is ushering in a movement of urban-scale housing in American suburbs, has reached an important milestone, welcoming its first homeowners. The community, which is located in Skokie, Ill., about 10 miles north of downtown Chicago, features 20 custom-tailored single-family homes ranging in price from $495,000 to $850,000. According to Floral Avenue developer John McLinden, president of Skokie, IL -based StreetScape USA, the project represents a new breed of American housing that is emerging as a result of demand for more urban alternatives to traditional suburban home design.

 

“The ‘urbanization of the suburbs’ is a trend that highlights both demographic and lifestyle shifts in American culture,” said McLinden. “Cities are now outpacing the growth of suburbs for the first time in 90 years. But even in the suburbs, we have seen great demand for neighborhoods and homes that have many of the same characteristics of their city counterparts. ” Homes at Floral Avenue are located on 28-foot wide lots and feature a front porch to promote a neighborly lifestyle. Buyers work with Streetscape’s in-house design team to customize their home’s floor plan and finishes according to their individual lifestyle. “We call it ‘How Do You Live?’” said McLinden. “We use state-of-the-art design tools to make customization easy, efficient and affordable. Our goal is to build homes that are as diverse as today’s homebuyers, while still creating a cohesive, esthetically attractive neighborhood. The home is the ultimate consumer product, and we have organized our entire delivery approach around that important notion,” McLinden said. 

 

According to Andrew Herrmann of @properties, the exclusive sales and marketing firm for Floral Avenue, the project’s first homeowners – a couple from the Evanston area – embraced this approach and expanded on the three-bedroom Aster model to include a play room off the kitchen for their daughter.  Another feature contributing to Floral Avenue’s city-home feel is its location on a tree-lined street within Skokie’s downtown. There are 18 restaurants, numerous shops, two grocery stores, a live theater, a nationally-recognized public library and a commuter rail line to downtown Chicago – all within walking distance. In fact, Floral Avenue has a Walk Score rating of 84 out of 100, unusually high for a suburban community McLinden noted.