$1.2M New Build Targets Frustrated Buyers in Chicago Suburbs

At $1.2 million, the first listing in a six-home project by Skokie-based developer Varda & Company is testing the ceiling of the Morton Grove market, which hasn’t seen the high-dollar sales common to neighboring Glenview and other North Shore towns.

The 4,500-square-foot home at 7304 Ponto Court is the first to be listed at The Ponto Collection in the northwest suburb, with another soon to be finished, said Patrick McEneely, the @properties broker representing the developer.

The price point is new for Morton Grove, but may draw in buyers who are frustrated with the lack of inventory and the resulting upward pressure on prices in nearby North Shore towns like Glenview and Wilmette.

“There’s strong demand for new construction throughout Skokie, Morton Grove, Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Glenview and beyond, but it just doesn’t exist,” McEneely said. “There’s maybe five or 10 homes available in all the area. We have six coming online.”

Some North Shore buyers seek homes there for the proximity to the lakefront, and those with the means to match top-dollar offers are unlikely to be swayed. But the increase in home prices has left others on the sidelines, McEneely said, and the more-affordable Morton Grove offers the high-quality schools and proximity to the city that many families look for in a suburban home.

Buying on the North Shore “is just to the point that it’s become unattainable for a lot of people,” he said. Buyer interest is pushing west, and Morton Grove natives are also investing in new real estate as suburban markets heat up.

McEneely tested out this playbook five years ago when he sold Varda’s Elmwood Collection in Skokie, which converted an old industrial building into seven townhomes sold at prices averaging $600,000 — toward the high end of the Skokie market at the time.

“Heading north from downtown Chicago, there are no new single-family homes at these prices for 30 miles,” McEneely said of the Morton Grove development. “But there’s a market for it here, just as there was a market in Skokie.”

The newly listed home on Ponto Court in Morton Grove has already caught the eyes of buyers after about three weeks on the market, and McEneely said he expects it to sell soon.

The development will feature six two-story farmhouse style homes with four bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, two-car garages, and about 4,000 square feet of space, according to a news release.