Courtesy Structured Development
Structured Development will develop the final 9 acres of the 27-acre Triangle in Orland Park, Ill.—a mixed-use master plan adjacent to the Chicago suburb’s Metra station with an urban style that helps establish a gateway to the village.
2. Locate near jobs and transportation. Nearby employment for residents can be a strong incentive for developers when picking one suburban site versus another. But there needs to be some form of mass transit or highway network to get residents to them. David Schwartz, chairman of Waterton, a Chicago-based firm focused on acquisitions, says he’s most keen on properties that offer easy access, followed by those with good retail, then amenities. The NRP Group, a vertically integrated developer based in Cleveland, recently broke ground on The Rockwell, an upscale multifamily apartment building planned for a 2021 opening in Berlin, Mass., because of both jobs and access. The location lies 35 miles west of Boston but is also a short drive from major interstates. And more potential jobs will develop outside the 204-unit garden-style residents’ doors as Riverbridge Village, the mixed-use master plan community it’s a part of, moves forward with a hotel, day care, wine store, coffee shop, and gas station.
These days a transit-oriented site can be a huge incentive. The Bozzuto Group and The Chevy Chase Land Co. broke ground in December to develop Chevy Chase Lake, a mixed-use, transit-oriented community in the Maryland suburb of Chevy Chase, just outside Washington, D.C. In addition to attracting renters, the under-construction Purple Line extension of the Metro “allowed our firm to increase the buildings’ density,” says Toby Bozzuto, president and CEO of the Greenbelt, Md., company. “The Purple Line was not only complementary to our collective vision, but it was also additive in the sense that it provides even more conveniences for our residents and customers,” he says. In nearby Rockville, Md., Metro’s Red Line helped spur Bozzuto and EYA Communities to redevelop a 90-acre industrial park into Westside at Shady Grove Metro, which will be a 1,100-unit multifamily, mixed-use neighborhood. Phase one features retail and a 333-unit luxury building, The Daley at Shady Grove Metro. “The area was underutilized with a gap in its fabric. This project makes the disparate parts around it more walkable,” says Benjamin Kasdan, associate principal at KTGY Architecture + Planning, which worked on the design.
“The ultimate goal is to create a significant-sized town center where each phase will add (to it),” adds KTGY principal Kamran Charmsaz.
