CHANGING THE FACE OF MULTI-FAMILY

BY DEBORAH RIDER ALLEN

The biggest criticism of multi-family developments is the monotony of the building design creating a sea of big box, monochromatic starkness which strikes a chord against the individualistic expression people are looking for today.

Not so in Aurora, Illinois on Ogden Avenue just off Route 59 where Landreth Companies in a joint venture with Farmview Builders built a mixed development of 368 luxury rental apartment along with 66 for sale villas (town homes)

The town homes are designed like villas giving a single family look yet are clustered together to provide optimal privacy, with hidden garages, and floor to ceiling windows for light.

The apartments have two different building types and sizes with large steep roofs and lots of gables.  Each apartment building has a different color scheme than the one next to it diversifying the complex.

These unique properties are the innovation of John Landreth, principal of Landreth Companies. Landreth had the idea to offering something a little different to Chicago area renters and buyers. With the completion of Briar court Villas and Gables Apartments, Landreth Companies has become a leader in offering unique, upscale, luxury rental and for sale properties.

“I am always looking for a market where I can go in and have something just a little bit unique and capture a special niche,” says Landreth who grew up in Chicago yet earned his a BA/BS degree in Business Administration and Finance at the University of the Pacific in California.

His career began in corporate real estate in the early 80’s where he specialized in the disposition and purchase of corporate real estate assets. He then joined a development company that purchased industrial loft properties and re-developed them for residential or commercial use, including “Printer’s Row” on Dearborn Street in downtown Chicago.

In 1990 Landreth started his own company with the backing of institutional and private investors to find undervalued investment properties.  He was also, at the time, in a partnership with his wife, Jeanne Landreth and partner Charlie Clarke, to rehab and condo existing apartment building in and around the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago.

Then in 1994 Landreth was hired by Motorola to be their developer/adviser on a 5,000-unit employee housing project in Tianjin, China. In 1996 Landreth turned 100% of his focus back on the Chicago market and straight at looking for vacant land for the development of new rental and for sale communities.

“You have to understand all aspects of the rental communities needs, to be successful,” says Landreth, whose diverse background includes design, marketing, finance and construction.

“Its critical for the developer to understand all aspects of the development and how they are going to work, especially when you are trying to be different and go outside of the box like we did.”

For both Briarcourt and Gables, Landreth used a group approach to come up with distinctive design concepts. “One of my philosophies is to bring everyone together on the design phase so that we can share all of our experiences and ideas,” Landreth says. “I bring in our construction guys and our sales people into our design meetings with the architects, because you need that interaction.

Architects know design, but sales people experience the myriad of different reactions to design and what features are the most appealing.  The project superintendents can look at these design features and know the practicality of creating them in a production-build environment.

At the end of this process we find the actual design features look better and are easier and even less expensive to build.

To include all those resources while you are designing is a real advantage and is an important reason to having our own construction and sales companies.”

The result of this group approach is some of the most unique real estate in the Chicago area. The Briarcourt Villas town homes have hidden garages, six-foot windows, lighted corner spaces, gables, copulas, brick facades and dormers.

The Gables Apartments have vaulted ceilings, extra large closets and their two-bedroom floor plan is huge, averaging about 1,130 square feet.

Landreth Companies also went a step further in altering the concept of typical Apartments community.  Landreth merged the concept of an apartment complex with the services and feel of a long-term stay hotel, and has created a servicing and even pampering atmosphere for its tenants.

“For people who are out of town a lot on business, we will collect their dry cleaning, water their plants or feed their cat while they are gone.  We serve a free continental breakfast for them in the clubhouse every morning, and have special tenant events to build a sense of community.” Landreth further describes.

“We have T-1 wiring (high speed Internet connections) for all our apartments and at the clubhouse. We also have a fitness facility and a business center with computers and fax machines available.”

Landreth admits that he took a chance trying these new and unique designs and features. “We risked doing all these things, trying to be an innovator and distinguish ourselves,” he says.

“There was a danger in it, that the theory would not pan out, but by going out a little bit on the brink where no one else has gone, gives you that edge and you realize what works and what does not and how much people value what your doing. So far it has worked well and has been right on target.”

He also readily admits that the extras in his properties cost more, and that he is not trying to build for the part of the market which is looking for the cheapest price per square foot.

“I am going after that market niche of people who will pay a little more for the details, design and have an eye on lasting value” he explains.

“We raised the standards of our apartments and town homes and we believe that adding these details and putting in the extra effort to find new ways to give people a better living environment, will benefit in the long run by creating a premium reputation.”

Clearly, these developments are getting recognized by namely the Chicagoland Apartment Association who has awarded the Gables four CAMME awards and the Chicago Builders Association who awarded a KEY award making the Gables the most highly awarded apartment properties in all Chicago.

Landreth Companies has now positioned itself as a formidable company in the rental arena and Landreth says they are continuing to look for future opportunities.

“We have the capability and means to bring the whole package to the table whether it is 100% of the financing, construction or marketing.

However, we want to be very selective about the opportunities and are very open to partnering in order to realize a good opportunity.”

Landreth says in the future that he would like to develop a master community with a mix of both commercial and residential.

But what ever it is, you can be sure that Landreth Companies will continue to keep pushing the envelope and devising new, better and more unique ideas with every new development.