Is bigger better?

Is a 3,000-house subdivision better than one with 300 homes?

Yes, say some real estate analysts, residential developers and municipal officers.

Economy of scale makes possible well-equipped clubhouses, a wide variety of housing types at one location, more usable open space and a speedier sales pace that translates into a shorter tie dealing with construction dust.

Better or not, bigger is shaping up as a new trend in outlying parts of the Chicago area. Mega developments of 1,000 to 3,000 houses are just getting under way at several locations in southwestern and northwestern suburbia.

Why big? Why now?

“The nature of development is changing in the Chicago region,” said real estate analyst Steve Hovany. “For years, home building here has been dominated by hundreds of family-owned builders. Now large land packages have moved in. They have big pools of money, somewhat investor-driven.

“There can be more money in land packaging – a high risk, high return business, than home building,” said Hovany, president of Schaumburg-based Strategy Planning Associates. “Land packagers are becoming dominant in part because small- and medium-sized builders don't have the time or patience to spend two or three years in the land-approval process.”

The mega developments appeal to buyers, too. “They create a sense of place, a sense of community. The residents have their own parks, schools and recreation canters,” said Tracy Cross, also a real estate analyst.

Another factor pushing development is Wall Street's pressure on national, publicly traded builders. “They can't afford to hold land on their balance sheets,” said Cross and Associates.

Mega projects are being built farther out on the edges of the metropolitan area because that is where large tracts of land can be assembled, Cross said.

One of those locations is northwest suburban Huntley, which already boasts the Chicago area's largest mega development, Del Webb's Sun City, planned fore more than 5,000 homes.

Now comes Talamore, projected for almost 2,000 housing units for the general market in Huntley.

“Talamore is large. We see projects like this as a trend, like those in Yorkville,” said David Johnson, Huntley's director of community development and assistant village manager.

When completed, Talamore will have a major impact on the village, increasing the population of 17,690 by another 6,000 residents.

To pay for increased village services and schools, the project will pay an impact fee of $6.1 million, Johnson said. Of course, each home buyer will pay a share of that total.

Johnson explained that the land where Talamore will be built was annexed in the early and mid-1990s to block the westward expansion of Lake in the Hills.

Originally, the tract was zoned for 2,600 housing units. “But we got them down to about 2,000,” he said.

To break up the sheer size of mega developments, they are divided into pods or neighborhoods, with different types of housing. That is the plan at Talamore, a joint venture of Ryland Homes, Lennar Chicago and Concord homes, a division of Lennar.

Planned are 1,004 houses and 968 townhouses on more than 600 acres on the north side of Huntley.

“There will be a lot more big projects with multiple builders in the future,” said Bob Meyn, vice president of sales and marketing for Ryland Homes and spokesman for Talamore.

“It's increasingly difficult for one company to do a development this size – to buy the land, build and maintain a sales velocity. These projects are very capital intensive,” Meyn said.

“Partnering will be the future of home building in Chicago,” he predicted. “There's so much more we do when we pool resources.”

One of those joint amenities at Talamore is the 8,000-square-foot clubhouse with outdoor pool, kiddie pool, water slide, sand volleyball and other recreational facilities.

“[Huntley] didn't require a clubhouse. They did it on their own,” said Margo Eckerly, village planner.

She noted that the three builders are not trying to outdo each other, but if one does something, the others follow suit.

Talamore's frontage on Illinois Highway 47 is reserved for commercial development, she said. Meyn said prices have not been set, but her estimated townhouses will start in the $200,000s and single-families in the $300,000s.

Major earth moving is under way. “We hope to have the main streets in this fall, so we can start the models, which will open in spring,” he said.

“If gas doesn't go to $5 a gallon, Talamore should be built out in five to seven years,” Meyn said.

While the developments name is from a golf course in North Carolina, the interior streets will be named for residents in Huntley's History, Eckerly said.

Johnson estimated Huntley's ultimate population will be about 50,000. A new 50,000-square-foot village hall is under construction and will be finished next summer.

In southwest suburban Oswego, the Southbury development is taking shape with plans for 1,030 housing units.

Developed by Ocean Atlantic, based in Alexandria, Va., the 352-acre site will be shared by four construction firms: Orleans Homebuilders, Kensington Homes, Faganal Builders and Neumann Homes.

Orleans has opened four decorated models, but the others have not broken ground.

Karen James, senior planner with the Village of Oswego, listed the positive of large, master-planned developments: “They offer more community open space, have unified signage and the same landscaping theme.”

Developments with multiple builders sell faster because of the synergy,” said Michael Feraguto, Ocean Atlantic CEO. “All advertise and people who come to look at one project probably will check out the others, too.”

The faster sales pace also has advantages for buyers. “They won't have to contend with dusty roads for 10 years,” he said.

Besides buying the land, doing the approval process and installing the infrastructure, Ocean Atlantic will build the 7,500-square-foot clubhouse. “It will have an exercise facility, library, theater, conference room, kitchen, lap pool, kiddie pool and an adult pool and spa,” Feraguto said.

“More land in one bundle is better for planning,” said Randy Harris, Chicago division president for Orleans Homebuilders, based in Schaumburg.

He explained the appeal of large, master-planned projects to municipalities: “Villages are not anti-growth, but they are against smaller, patch-work subdivisions that stand alone.”

Harris believes the critical mass required for a large project is 1,000 units. “Economically, you can't have a clubhouse on 100 acres,” he added.

Harris said the creation of Southbury was “almost a shotgun marriage. Ocean Atlantic owned 200 acres contiguous to our land. The village did not want all that property developed separately.”

Spring Gate, the Orleans section of Southbury, will have houses ranging from 2,400 to 3,900 square feet and prices starting in the high $200,000s.

The 104 single-family homes that Kensington Homes will build at Southbury “will be age-targeted ranches with 1,600 to 2,400 square feet,” said Scott Pjesky, executive vice president of the Naperville-based builder. “Though not restricted to adults only, they will be geared to those without kids.”

Pjesky added that Kensington also plans eventually to build 100 townhouses at Southbury.

In Yorkville, other massive developments are under way.

“Large projects have a diverse mix of products and sell faster,” said Michael Krause, director of investments and operations for Moser Enterprises, based in Naperville. Moser is a partner in MPI Communities, master developer of Grande Reserve, planner for more than 2,600 homes on 1,028 acres.

The 5,500-square-foot clubhouse is open, as well as models by the four builders, Pasequinelli Homes, Richmond American, Gladstone Homes and Kensington.

Tony Graf, Yorkville's city administrator, said one advantage to buyers in mega developments is that the infrastructure and amenities are done in the beginning.

Also in Yorkville, Ocean Atlantic has launched its Westbury development, planned fore about 3,000 houses on 1,400 acres, said Ferraguto, the developer's CEO, who added that “it will have an 18-hole golf course, four clubhouses and a shopping center.”

Talk about big.