Landings in The Glen

Tower Crossing Prices up 5.3%, Sales Too

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The Glen is the premier lifestyle community on the North Shore of the Chicago metropolitan area, located in Glenview, Illinois.  It is composed of several neighborhoods one of which is called Tower Crossing.

Tower Crossing is a townhome development with 154 stunning homes, built between 7 and 10 years ago.  It borders Glen Town Center (The Glen’s “main street” which offers restaurants, shopping, a theater, and much more) on three sides.  The 4th side of Tower Crossing borders The Glen Club’s Championship 18 hole golf course designed by Tom Fazio.

There are 6 models of Tower Crossing homes (Astoria, Biltmore, Blackstone, Drake, Omni, and Valencia), and they vary in size between 3031 sq ft and 4105 sq ft.  The current price range is between roughly $600,000 and $800,000.  I am one of the fortunate owners of a Tower Crossing home, an Astoria End Unit model.

As the #1 Realtor* in Tower Crossing, I track home sales and prices constantly.  2013 is turning out to be a banner year for the development.  Sales have increased dramatically in 2013.  So far 17 homes have sold vs. 11 in all of 2012, 13 in 2011, 6 in 2010, and 7 in 2009.  There is also one Tower Crossing home under contract waiting to close; and 2 homes are for sale.

Prices are up 5.3% in the first 8 months of 2013.  On average Tower Crossing homes sell for $196.77 p/sq ft.  In 2012, non-distressed Tower Crossing homes sold for $186.88.  (2011 = $188.86;  2010 = $189.50;  2009 = $179).  As you can see, prices were flat for the 3 years immediately prior to 2013 after dropping considerably when the real estate market collapsed.

If you are interested in Tower Crossing or any home in the other Glen neighborhoods (Cambridge, Chapel Crossing, Glen Shore, Landings, Patriot Commons, Regency (row homes, new construction), and Southgate), please contact me at 847-401-1802 or by email margaretLudemannl@gmail.com

Margaret Ludemann, Glen Resident & @properties Realtor

*  Margaret sold or rented more Tower Crossing homes in 2012 than any other Realtor.

Connecting Neighbors in The Glen

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The Glen is an upscale residential and retail community in Glenview, Illinois.  It is composed of 1,106 privately owned homes of various types including single family, townhomes, duplexes, two-flats, villas and condos.  2,439 adults live in these homes, and of course a lot of children as well.  The Glen is like a small town with its own “downtown” (Glen Town Center) with scores of restaurants, shops, theater and more.

The small town feel is one of the great benefits of living in The Glen even though it is a community within Chicagoland’s popular North Shore.  Contributing to this sense of community is our group email system which uses Yahoo as its technology engine.  Membership in The Glen Yahoo Group is restricted to homeowners/residents alone.

Sharing helpful information is the purpose of our email group…in other words, being neighborly.  Most emails deal with recommendations of service providers (“I need a plumber.”), promoting community activities (“This weekend is the art show in Glen Town Center”), assisting neighbors in need, promoting non-profit organizations, and even selling personal items such as the bike you no longer need or your priceless (!) collection of 8-track tapes.  For profit commercial & marketing activity is not allowed, though selling your extra Cubs or Bears tickets is just fine.

Some of the individual neighborhoods within The Glen also have their own group email systems in addition to the larger Glen group.  I know of groups for the Regency, Southgate, Tower Crossing, Landings, and Chapel Crossing neighborhoods.  Emails posted on these group systems tend to be neighborhood-specific, while The Glen group emails are about most anything that strikes your fancy.

Being neighborly is a treasured characteristic among residents of The Glen.  We take pride in our community where I have lived for 10 years.  If you would like to explore living in The Glen please contact me at margaret.ludemann@gmail.com or 847-401-1802.

Margaret Ludemann, Resident of The Glen and @properties Realtor

The lull between the (sales) storms

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The spring and early summer real estate market in The Glen (in Glenview, Illinois) was the strongest in many years.  The Glen, as many of my blog followers know, is an upscale residential and retail community built on the site of the former Naval Air Station Glenview.

As an example, in The Glen’s Tower Crossing neighborhood with 154 row homes, 15 homes have already sold in 2013 as compared with 6 by this same time last year.  In fact, only 11 Tower Crossing homes sold in all of 2012.  Most other Glen neighborhoods have seen the same strong sales performance this year, especially in Chapel Crossing, Landings, Cambridge and Southgate.  I should add Regency to that list.  As the only new construction project in The Glen, sales have been hot all year.

There is, however, a bit of a lull right now.  Late summer is typically a slow period in real estate.  Many buyers want to make their purchases and move in prior to the start of school, which in the Glenview Public Schools is August 20.  Using again the example of Tower Crossing, only 1 home closed last year between August 15 and November 9.  Closings in this period correspond roughly to sales contracts being signed between mid-July and mid-September.

The market will pick up again – I suspect strongly – in late September, and it is likely to continue until Thanksgiving.  So the point is that this is a particularly great time for buyers to be searching for their next home.  They will face less competition with competing buyers; and some sellers who missed getting their homes sold in the spring and summer may be a bit more flexible on price.  If you are interested in living in The Glen, please call me at 847-401-1802 or send an email to margaret.ludemann@gmail.com.  I live in The Glen, and know this market inside and out.

Margaret Ludemann

Glen Resident and @properties Realtor

Kids in The Glen & Where They Go To School

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Hard to believe, but schools open here in Glenview, Illinois in just over a month.  Getting my son ready for 7th grade is on my mind, and I thought I would share with you what I know about kids in the Glen and their schools.

Before I get into the numbers, I should tell you that the public schools attended by children in the Glen are considered top notch.  Westbrook and Glen Grove are the elementary schools, Attea is the middle school (located in the Glen), and Glenbrook South is the high school.  This is what pointed my husband and me to the Glen a decade ago.  Here is some evidence:  In the recent national debating championships in Atlanta, the two finalist high schools (from all across the country) were Glenbrook South and Glenbrook North (about one mile away.)

OK, the numbers, according to the annual census of the Glen 2012:

  • There are 4,068 residents in the Glen who do not live in senior housing; and 1420 are children (35%).
  • 1,158 are enrolled in school.  262 children are not yet of school age.
  • 948 are in public schools (81.9% of school age children)
  • 210 are in non-public schools (18.1%).  Glen students in non-public schools attend one of 27 schools, most of these are enrolled in 3 Catholic schools: OLPH (Our Lady of Perpetual Help), Loyola Academy, and Saint Catherine.

By neighborhood (except for Regency which was too new for the census), here are the numbers homes followed by the numbers of Glen children:

Southgate, 299 homes, 405 children

Chapel Crossing, 167 homes, 307 children

Landings, 143 homes, 269 children

Cambridge, 244 homes, 223 children

Navy housing, 112 homes, 108 children

Tower Crossing, 154 homes, 73 children

Patriot Commons, 68 homes, 24 children

Aloft apartments, 181 homes, 11 children

Glenshore, 31 homes, 0 children

The Glen is a special place for adults and children alike.  If you would like more information about the Glen, please contact me at 847-401-3325 or margaretludemann@gmail.com.

Margaret Ludemann, resident of the Glen and @properties Realtor

Glen Home Types: Something for Everyone

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I’ve heard some residents suggest that there are far too few townhomes, condos, and villas in The Glen.  I’ve heard others say that the development is over populated with attached housing.  The truth?  Well, they’re both…wrong.

The Glen is a development within Glenview, Illinois on land that was once Naval Air Station Glenview.  But calling it a development doesn’t do it justice.  It’s really a village within a village as evidenced by Glen Town Center (the shopping and dining “main street”), multiple neighborhoods, parks, two golf courses, commercial offices, and a lake, school, and movie theater.  And just like any other town or village, it has a variety of housing types.  One of the brilliant strategies of the Glen’s master plan is the balance of single family homes and multi-family, attached home types.

My research shows that approximately 52% of Glen properties are single family homes.  Currently there are 670 such homes ranging in size from about 2500 sq ft to nearly 7,000 sq ft.  The largest SFH neighborhood is Southgate with 237 properties, followed by Chapel Crossing with 167 homes, Landings with 143 homes, and Cambridge with 123 homes.

This leaves approximately 48% of the Glen’s properties as multi-family.  Within this broad category are 5 different home types.  There are 409 townhomes, 99 condos, 64 villas, 35 duplexes, and 13 two-flats.  These 620 homes range in size from under 2,000 sq ft to over 4100 sq ft.  Multi-family housing is found in the Tower Crossing, Southgate, Cambridge, Glen Shore, Patriot Commons, and Regency neighborhoods.

So there is something for everyone in The Glen, whether you are looking for a comfortable condo or a majestic mansion…or anything in between.

Margaret Ludemann, resident of The Glen, @properties Realtor, email margaretLudemannl@gmail.com