Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Davis.
Kevin – please kick things off for us. Tell us the Fairfield story.
Fairfield Homes was started in 2013 by Scott P. Nielsen and myself (Principals). The Principals bring a combined 60 years of broad financial and operational home building experience with a variety of local, regional and national builders. The experience gained from those companies was invaluable in formulating a unique type of custom home builder which is Fairfield Homes.
Our mission is to deliver new custom homes using smart growth techniques by revitalizing in-fill properties in older neighborhoods where our customers want to live; creating lifestyle driven designs (Smarter Spaces) at a lower price point (Affordable Luxury) than custom builders.
We believe in delivering homes that will create and capture a lifetime of memories for the families we serve; something we view as a part of our mission. To meet this objective, we strive to deliver the highest quality home but at a cost that is reasonable and fair. In order to ensure this, we work with suppliers and sub-contractors that also share this philosophy. This allows us to meet our contractual commitments with no surprises.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
How does any company get started? Our first year was one house and we worked out of the basement of my home. We have grown organically through word of mouth and we are currently working on 11 homes and 4 remodeling projects. Our office/showroom has doubled in size and we now display virtually all finish products.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Fairfield Homes – what should we know?
Vision
Our vision is build affordable luxury custom houses that improve your lifestyle and have a positive impact on your community. We do this by recycling older houses and land in established neighborhoods and towns and the economical re-use of existing infrastructure.
Recycling Housing
Houses have a useful life of 50+ years but only with proper maintenance and continual component replacement. Housing components have much shorter useful lives. For example, gas and sanitary lines last 40 years and electrical wiring only 30 years. This creates obsolete and even dangerous homes with much of the 50 year old and older housing inventory. Our Green practices include: Demolition and waste recycling, existing infrastructure is used, houses are right-sized, energy efficient materials and equipment are installed, waste is reduced and sustainable materials are selected. In addition, our homes are right-sized to the community (no McMansions).
Eco-Friendly
In addition to the beautiful mature tree lined streets with differing and pleasing housing styles and sizes, the communities we build in already have walkable downtowns, bicycle paths, city halls, shopping, health care, police stations, fire stations, great schools, large libraries and existing transit. There are no costs building all new infrastructure, replacing farmland and natural land with suburban sprawl with its traffic congestion, disconnected neighborhoods environmental degradation and contribution to urban decay.
Infill Lots
Fairfield utilizes Smart Growth principles with its in-fill developments which is a highly sought-after alternative to urban/ suburban sprawl. Sprawl is responsible for habitat loss, increased infrastructure costs and dependency on cars. Traffic congestion is reduced by adding housing in existing transit-oriented areas that have above average walkability and are also bicycle friendly. By recycling or repurposing underused housing in existing established neighborhoods, we are not impacting the need for infrastructure. Our development does not generate the need for additional roads, police stations, fire stations, village halls, libraries, schools, water treatment plants, etc. This social and economic revitalization offers a better ecological footprint as well as a better quality of life.
Family Values
Where we build is closer to the city and employment corridors, thus reducing drive time, giving you more time with family. Other benefits include reducing traffic congestion and energy consumption. This social and economic revitalization offers a better ecological footprint as well as a better quality of life.
Between the three villages are some of the best employment corridors in the Chicago area including the I-53 corridor, Schaumburg, O’Hare international airport, I-90 corridor and I-94 corridor. The commuter rail’s express train reduces commute times to the Chicago city center to about 35 minutes. The below chart illustrates that our location is either short to average communities to the top 4 out of 6 employment centers with almost 200 million sf of leasable office space in the Chicago area.
Customer Analysis:
In spite of its average job growth and higher taxes, Chicago with an estimated population of 9.4 million people, is the third largest metropolitan area in the United States. It is also one of the world’s largest and most diversified economies with more than four million employees generating an annual gross regional product (GRP) of over $561 billion. The region is home to more than 400 major corporate headquarters including 31 in the Fortune 500 and 57 in the Fortune 1000. Of the top 10 wealthiest cities in the Midwest, 5 are suburbs of Chicago.
Young adults forming families generally feel they need to purchase a home in a suburban area, with low crime and great schools. City dwellers who used to enjoy the city’s nightlife, culture and restaurants find caring for children in the city even more difficult due to population density and crime. Add to this a shortage of good schools adds the expense for private school. Interestingly, most of Fairfield’s customers were raised in a suburban or rural area. The demand from young adults in Chicago is brisk as evidenced by the fact that 42 percent of homebuyers in the Chicago area have been under age 35. Nationally the under-35 group is expected to make up only 33 percent of the homebuyer pool next year, so Chicago’s numbers in this arena prove very strong.
The majority of Fairfield’s buyers are younger (30-40 in age) educated married couples with at least one high earner in the household. Generally, they have some savings, are working on or have had their first child, live in the city or locally in a townhome and realize they want to move up to a single-family home to raise their family in desirable suburbs. Many want to move back to communities they know, wanting to give their children the same experience they enjoyed in schools they had attended as kids. This age group wants a better work/life balance than their parents had with shorter commutes and a better life for their children. There is also a great desire to get closer to other family members, most of whom are outside the city in the suburbs.
Fairfield’s core customers rank schools, especially elementary, as a top priority. They expect to be close to the best employment corridors, commuter rails and thriving town center venues with shopping and entertainment. These areas offer city life amenities but closer to home.
These educated buyers want new, new, new. They are not the handyman blue collar types like their parents and grandparents. They want a clean, modern, low maintenance lifestyle with all the newest conveniences. Their ideal work/life balance does not include a project home.
Superior Schools:
Fairfield generally focuses and builds in the top school districts. Our belief is that great schools (public and private) as well as award-winning libraries are key drives in creating higher demand and greater home valuations. Again, our typical buyer is a young family.
We primarily build in the highly-ranked high school areas of William Fremd High School (98% graduation rate and a 24.5 average ACT score) in Palatine, John Hersey High School (ranked 5th in Illinois suburbs by US News and World Report) in Arlington Heights and Prospect High School (ranked 4th in Illinois suburbs by US News and World Report) in Mount Prospect. Due to our target market demographics (i.e. younger families), we tend to focus on the best elementary schools within these areas that include but are not limited to Pleasant Hill Elementary (88% meet or exceed ISAT) in Palatine, Olive Mary-Stitt Elementary (ranked 81st out of over 2,000 Illinois elementary schools) and Patton Elementary (86% meet or exceed ISAT) in Arlington Heights and Fairview Elementary (ranked 10 of 10 by greatschools.org) in Mount Prospect.
In addition to public school choice, there are also several highly-acclaimed private schools in the area. Palatine has Saint Theresa, Saint Thomas of Villanova, Immanuel Lutheran, Quest Academy and Chicago Northwest Suburban Chinese School. Arlington Heights has St. Viator High School, Our Lady of Wayside School, St. James School, St. Peter Lutheran School and Christian Liberty Academy and Chicago Futabakai Japanese School. Mount Prospect has St. Raymond, St Emily and St Paul Lutheran.
These areas also have highly rated public libraries including the Arlington Heights Memorial Library which for seven consecutive years has received a 5-star rating in Library Journal’s national rating of public libraries. This makes it one of 21 libraries in the United States to earn five stars for the past seven years.
Desirable Downtowns:
Over long periods of time, some older neighborhoods have earned reputations as the best places to raise a family. Highly sought-after areas have certain things in common: great schools, low crime, desirable shopping, a choice of restaurants and family friendly entertainment venues. Amenities such as nearby parks, community sports, walkable downtowns, bicycle friendly tree-lined streets make you feel like you are stepping back in time which reflects a pride in ownership. Areas with established infrastructure and great police, fire, libraries and other community resources are also driving factors. Additional elements include access to mass transit (reducing commute times), close proximity to major employment corridors, proximity to an international airport. Our neighborhoods typically have these amenities, creating higher demand and greater home valuations.
There is also a new real estate phrase to describe certain locations that receive higher valuations called the “Starbucks Effect”. Houses that are located close to specialty stores such as Starbucks, Whole Foods and Trader Joes sell for higher amounts. Thus, the desire to be in a town center like environment with walkability to shops and entertainment continue to be a huge draw.
Palatine, Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect have many of the amenities mentioned without the eye-popping house prices and cost of living that the City or the North Shore offers. Areavibes.com give these areas an “A” in Amenities, an “A” in low Crime and an “A” in Education; receiving community rankings of between 81 and 84 out of 100. Movoto.com who ranks the best places to live in Illinois ranked Arlington Heights #7, Palatine #9 and Mount Prospect #10.
These villages have had a recent rebirth of their downtowns bringing a diverse mix of restaurants, shops, quaint boutiques and theaters. Mixed use apartments, condominiums, commercial and retail utilizing the merits of commuter rail contribute to progressive economic development yet maintaining a small-town feel.
Arlington Heights has focused on an entertainment oriented destination for the northwest suburbs, with a live performing arts theater; a movie theater and about 40 restaurants that give bring vibrancy in the evening and on the weekends. This areas attractive and upscale design invites visitor to stroll the boutiques, art galleries, specialty stores, unique restaurants and quaint coffee shops. There is also beautiful Harmony Park offering views of the tree-lined streets, upscale architecture, and unique sculptures. Downtown Arlington Heights has won several awards, nationally and regionally, for its redevelopment yet it has maintained a family-oriented feel. It was voted “One of the Most Desirable Downtowns” in a Daily Herald Newspaper survey.
The Village of Mount Prospect is a nationally-acclaimed community recognized for excellent housing, high performing schools and outstanding services. When Business Week Magazine announced in 2008 that Mount Prospect was the number one place to raise kids, followed in 2010 by Money Magazine’s claim that the Village was one of the “Top 50 Places to Live” in the U.S., residents couldn’t have agreed more. In 2013, Movoto Real Estate, which ranks cities and towns across America, named Mount Prospect one of the “Top 10 Best Cities in Illinois.”
What makes Mount Prospect so desirable? It is conveniently located to downtown Chicago, O’Hare International and Chicago Executive Airports, two Interstate highways and two commuter rail systems within miles of each other. Residents enjoy a high quality of life provided through outstanding municipal services. The Village government partners with the private sector to promote seasonal events, such as Fridays on the Green summer concerts, Downtown Block Party and more. Residents can enjoy retail centers, such as Randhurst Village, for shopping, entertainment, hotel lodging and dining experiences.
Product – New Custom Homes:
Established neighborhoods offering great schools, shopping and infrastructure typically have an established housing stock that is 50-100 years old. Useful life tables give copper water lines 70 years, concrete 50 years, gas pipe 40 years, plywood 30 years and doors 20 years. Current housing stock in most cases has outlived its useful life. In addition, styles have changed and floor plans have been modernized. Expectations include 9’ foundations, 9’ first floor ceilings, livable porches, attached garages with storage, larger open informal areas and smaller formal areas, mudrooms with built-ins, gourmet kitchens, 2nd floor laundry rooms, walk-in closets and luxury baths.
New and custom homes provide personalization opportunities that improve the lifestyle of our customers while greatly improving energy efficiency and air quality. Our customers bring years of pet-peeves birthed from each of their current and prior living environments. Inspired by our own experiences raising families, the Fairfield team is motivated to alleviate our customers’ frustrations; we see each family’s situation as unique and make it a point to develop a custom floor plan specifically for each customer. Our customers do not have to compromise on style and design.
People live differently today and put more emphasis on open informal spaces and less on formal spaces. Home offices cut off from the open family areas are being replaced by planning centers off the kitchen. Kitchens must have a WOW factor with large eat-at islands. Mudrooms are larger with custom built-ins. Basements and 1st floors are 9’ tall or even taller. Three or four car garages aren’t optional, they’re expected. Buyers want more natural light, large closets and lots of storage; and they get to have it on a charming tree lined street in a great established neighborhood.
Fairfield adds many more standard features and benefits than our competition. Our homes are built on the bedrock of building science, with better water intrusion management, energy efficiency, indoor air quality program and modern features they want.
Smart Housing
We believe the better choice is to recycle and reposition obsolete or underutilized housing and land with new houses helping an already successful community become even more prosperous. It stimulates economic activity, preserves and enhances natural and cultural resources, reduces energy consumption, improves schools and other services and enhances the tax base. Our homes are built on the bedrock of building science, with a better water intrusion management, energy efficiency, indoor air quality program and lifestyle floor plans.
Pricing:
- Typical 3,000sf home $500,000 plus average lot $250,000 = $750,000 home package
- Typical 3,500sf home $550,000 plus average lot $275,000 = $825,000 home package
Contact Info:
- Address: 530 S Arthur Ave, Arlington Heights, IL 60005
- Website: www.build-fairfield.com
- Phone: 847-456-8017
- Email: kdavis@build-fairfield.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fairfieldhomes/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/buildfairfield/?fref=ts
Image Credit:
Photographer – Jeff Siegel, An Eye For Business, https://www.houzz.com/pro/prophoto61/an-eye-for-business
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