Habitat, M/I Homes Partner on Highland Park Townhomes

One of the nation’s biggest homebuilders is partnering with Chicago-based Habitat Company on a Highland Park housing development that got the green light from city officials in February.

Habitat announced Tuesday it is partnering with M/I Homes on a joint venture to develop 227 townhomes on the former Solo Cup manufacturing site in Highland Park. The planned development on the 28-acre property is set to be the largest housing project in the village in “generations,” city leaders previously said.

The partners plan to close on the land at 1700 Old Deerfield Road this spring and break ground in the second half of 2026, Habitat said in a press release. In February, the company estimated a 18- to 24-month buildout timeline, The Real Deal previously reported.

The press release didn’t include the intended purchase price for the land, which is currently owned by Red Cup Land Company. That entity, affiliated with a company called Newsweb, paid $6.2 million in 2012 for the land, which has been vacant since 2008. Red Cup Land Company was behind a plan to build two industrial warehouses on the site that Highland Park officials rejected in 2023.

The Highland Park City Council unanimously approved Habitat’s proposal for the site, dubbed The Bowery of Highland Park, on Feb. 9. The council’s final sign-off required the developers to remove a contentious proposed pedestrian crosswalk and increase the buffer zone between a nearby restaurant after residents voiced concerns.

The joint venture marks the end of a nearly 20-year saga for the property. Since the Solo Cup Company vacated the facility two decades ago, multiple development pitches failed to materialize, including proposals for a community college and an industrial logistics hub.

“Ever since Solo Cup vacated the area almost 20 years ago, it has seemed like the best use of this site was to redevelop it as a residential neighborhood,” Habitat president Matt Fiascone said in a statement.

The project will feature 227 for-sale homes across 48 buildings, the press release said. The number was scaled back from an initial plan of 262 homes during the approval process.

The units will have three-bedroom floor plans with transitional-style exteriors and attached two-car garages. The release did not include the intended sale prices of the homes.

The neighborhood will include nine acres of preserved open space, a clubhouse with an outdoor pool, a public tot lot and a dog park, the release said. To comply with Highland Park’s inclusionary housing mandate, 34 of the townhomes will be reserved for buyers earning below the area’s median income.

The project will bring an influx of new homes to the supply-starved North Shore village, where large parcels for major residential developments are rare. M/I Homes is among the most active homebuilders in the area and has more projects in planning in Lake County than any other builder, Habitat said in the press release.

Rick Champine, area president of M/I Homes, said in the release that the project is in line with their other recent projects in the northern suburbs, which involve using infill parcels to bring housing to areas where inventory is limited.