Bridgeport Village

111 houses proposed for Bridgeport

Chicago Tribune
September 26, 2000
By Thomas A Corfman

The Bungalow Belt is back in fashion.

A 111-unit development of midpriced, single-family homes is being proposed for a vacant industrial site on the Chicago River in Bridgeport, one of the largest single-family projects to be announced since Chicago's housing market began surging seven years ago.

The $30 million project, located on a 15-acre site between 32nd and 34th streets, is expected to set the stage for residential development of adjacent, underutilized industrial land that could add an additional 110 homes to the working-class Southwest Side neighborhood.

The Bridgeport proposal follows last week's announcement by the Daley Administration of a program to provide subsidies to encourage renovation of the city's existing stock of brick bungalows, which were the lifeblood of the city housing boom that followed World War II.

Yet unlike 50 years ago, when construction of free-standing single- family homes was the norm, such houses are a rarity in today's townhouse- and condominium-dominated residential development market. Single-family houses accounted for less than 10 percent of the new homes last year in the city, according to an estimate by residential consultancy Tracy Cross & Associates Inc.

Of the nearly 6,196 new city units on the market over the last five quarters, only 141 were single family homes, according to the Tracy Cross survey, which includes only developments with at least 10 units. Most single-family home developments in Chicago are on a smaller scale--often individual homes torn down on existing lots and rebuilt by smaller developers.

As an entire project dedicated to single-family homes, the proposed Bridgeport development is unique. "The element of direct competition is virtually nil," said Tracy Cross, president of the Schaumburg-based consulting firm.

The development is a joint venture that includes veteran city homebuilder Snitzer Homes Inc. The project, dubbed Bridgeport Village, will consist mostly of homes with detached garages on lots that are 25 feet by 103 feet. A few larger homes will be on 35-foot- wide lots. The homes are expected to range in size from 2,000 square feet to 4,000 square feet, and range in price from $275,000 to $350,000.

The design of the masonry homes will be patterned after a variety of traditional Chicago residential styles, such as the graystone and the brown-brick bungalow. Most homes will include a front porch, as developers hope to revive a Chicago tradition often lost in the cookie-cutter, townhouse developments of ritzy areas.

"We're trying to create a community where people can sit out front in the summertime and talk to their neighbors," said Thomas Snitzer, president of Arlington Heights-based Snitzer Homes, which is joint- venture partner with real estate investor John Kinsella.

The plans, which were scaled back from earlier proposals that included townhomes, must still be approved by city officials. "From what we've seen, we like the plans," said a spokesman for the city's Department of Planning and Development. "We're in favor of residential projects in that area."

Typically, developers look to boost profits by increasing the number of units in a project, thereby spreading the land costs over a larger number of homes. And the strong city housing market is providing even more reason to raise the size of projects. "Rising land costs are forcing developers to push up the densities of new projects," said residential consultant Cross. Snitzer said low land costs enable him to build single-family homes at profit margins of a denser development.

The current project would be on the south half of a narrow, 30- acre strip of land along the banks of a fork in the South Branch of the Chicago River. The south half is the combination of three parcels: an old railroad yard; a vacant industrial site formerly owned by the city; and a small warehouse at 3300 S. Racine Ave. that would be torn down to make way for the development.

While land on the Near South Side closer to the Loop might cost around $25 per square foot, the developers one year ago paid Virginia- based Northfolk Southern Corp. about $9 per square foot for the railroad property. And in June, Snitzer Homes paid under $3 per square foot for the city property, which lacked street access and had required expensive site preparation. Snitzer would not say what his firm is paying to acquire the warehouse.

To the north of the proposed residential site is a cement-mixing plant operated by Aztec Material Services Corp. North of that parcel is a vacant parcel owned by an investor. Sources said the Snitzer joint venture has discussed with the owners buying those two sites.

The planning department spokesman said the city expects that those parcels will eventually be converted into homes, but could not give a timetable. Planning department officials are already discussing acquiring the vacant parcel to sell it to a residential developer, but are not currently working to relocate the cement-mixing plant, which has long been a sore point with homeowners to the east.