Will Development's House Size Hit Neighbors' Home Prices?

The bank that foreclosed on a property wants to finish a planned development, bringing new homes and construction jobs to Mokena, but some neighbors are concerned the homes the banks want to build are too small.

"I don't want vacant land there, but I don't want to just give it away either," neighbor Jason Zimmer said.

Some residents of the Old Mill Pond Townhomes on 187th Street and Wolf Road are concerned the build-out of the development could hurt their homes' values. A half-dozen of them came to a work session Monday night to state their objections.

"I don't think this is the right thing to do," neighbor Mark Walsh said. "It's too small."

Walsh and other residents said they want the bank and the village to make good on the original developer's promise that no home would be less than 2,200 feet.

A home's value, which is used to determine everything from sale cost to property taxes, is determined by the value of comparable homes nearby.

Much of the discussion at Monday's work session centered on whether the smaller, less-expensive single-family homes would hurt the value of the townhomes or if the single-family and townhomes wouldn't even be considered comparable.

The original developer's plan was to build five townhomes and 12 condos in addition to the 12 townhomes already built.

But State Bank of Countryside foreclosed on the property and wants to complete it with homes they feel could better sell in the post-crash market.

To the bank and to architect Duane Linden, that means 12 single-family homes of 1,500 to 2,100 square feet. The one 1,500-square-foot home, by far the smallest, is a single-story ranch house. The rest would be two stories.

These homes would be smaller than currently allowed under village rules, so the developer wants a special use permit for the work, basically an exemption. Linden said smaller homes are the new economic reality, both for buyers and builders.

"Our problem today is the (construction) costs haven't truly gone down but the market price has," Linden said.

Mayor Joe Werner said the smaller homes might appeal to empty nesters who want to stay in the area but don't need the big houses in which they raised their kids.

"There's a market in this community that we can't fill," Werner said.