Veteran Naperville builder Steve Carr meets needs of local infill market providing “right sized” homes

Like peanut butter and jelly, fireworks on the Fourth of July, and uptempo music and dancing, Steve Carr and Naperville just go together.

Today, 36 years after he first began building in and around his favorite town, Carr Building and Development continues to make news in Naperville building for empty-nester buyers seeking “right sized” homes in the neighborhood they love; where they can walk to shopping, cultural and dining opportunities.

“The right sized buyer is typically an empty-nester that wants all of the bells and whistles in a smaller new home package in the community they know and love. Their existing home is too big, in need of repair and the kids have moved out. This buyer seeks spacious kitchens with custom cabinetry, open floor plans conducive to entertaining, quality construction with energy efficient technology, and the ability to customize is of vital importance to them.”

Carr said that with a changing real estate market came the need to reinvent himself and his company to better cater to the needs of today’s buyers and homeowners.

“We’ve built our reputation as the premiere home builder in Naperville since I set up shop and have since built over 600 residences throughout the western suburbs,” said Carr. “Since the market downturn, we identified key ways to refocus our strengths and offer additional services that makes us even more versatile and in-demand.”

Carr Building and Development recently introduced a series of “right-sized” home designs, ranging is size from 2,000 to 2,800 square feet specifically designed for this very buyer and at the moment has downtown Naperville home sites available on which to build these homes.

Carr has four downtown Naperville and Downers Grove lots available close to amenities. Additionally, he has access to home sites available in the area that can be acquired for design/build purposes.

While Carr prides himself on designing and building the highest quality semi-custom and completely custom-built homes in desirable infill locations, he’s also become nimble and flexible in the new marketplace and has developed a strong niche as a renovator maintaining a prolific pace revamping kitchens and baths, restoring historic neighborhood homes, even rejuvenating distressed properties for faster foreclosure and short sales.

“I was actually one of the first to restore and rehab an older home in Naperville’s historic district—a home I’ve lived in ever since,” he said.

Carr credits his continued success to a number of factors, not the least of which is a shrewdly chosen territory of operations.

“Naperville is an historic and established community that offers a small-town-meets-quaint-downtown feel,” he said. “The city has done an incredible job of reinventing itself from an old farming community to a happening destination—a place where people want to settle down and raise families, spread their roots and take advantage of a vibrant, active culture.”

Word-of-mouth about Carr and his design-build capabilities spread quickly since he began building homes in 1976. It wasn’t long before he was acquiring lots, tearing down old homes and building new dreams for countless homeowners—everything from one-of-a-kind detached homes to innovative townhomes and value-designed condos. Locations he’s built at over the years include shared single-family subdivisions like Ashwood Creek, Country Lakes Estates, and Breckenridge Swim and Tennis Club, all in Naperville; exclusive communities he personally developed, such as La Toscana (Naperville townhomes), Essex Place (Naperville condos), and Sheffer Woods (Aurora detached residences); and on various standalone homesites throughout Naperville, St. Charles, Aurora, Geneva and Downers Grove.

“La Toscana is one of the best examples of the kind of unique vision and excellence for detail that we bring to every project,” said Carr of the development that opened in 2004. “This was an infill site that included three different parcels, on which we built upscale and age-targeted townhomes featuring architectural influences I picked up during a trip to Tuscany, Italy. It showcased an eclectic Euro design with stucco and stone that was totally unique for Naperville at that time. My competitors later tried to replicate this concept, but they could never duplicate it.”

Another standout property that proved popular with buyers was Carr’s Pine Grove community of English cottage-style townhomes that he introduced in 2005.

But it’s the semi- and fully custom homes Carr has built from scratch over nearly four decades that probably best define his signature style.

“We have impeccable design sensibilities, and our customers seek us out for our Old World-inspired craftsmanship and keen attention to detail, quality and integrity,” Carr said. “To this day, I get people who pass one of my homes and later tell me, ‘I saw one of your homes the other day,’ and ‘I could tell that was a Carr home because it stood out as so much better than the ones around it.’”

Carr and his team have also won dozens of industry awards over the years, including the 2003-2004 Community Choice Design Award for best custom home in Naperville’s downtown neighborhood.

“We bring a high level of finesses and artistic sensibility to each project we undertake,” Carr said. “It’s a big reason why the homes we craft appeal to so many different types of buyers—among them growing families, empty nesters, move-up shoppers who want to remain in the area, and job transferees.”

To learn more about Carr Building and Development, phone (630) 527-0007 or visit www.CarrBuilding.com.