Not Your Grandparents' Apartment: 5 Ways Suburban Apartments Have Changed
From 211 Pine Street on "Leave It to Beaver" to 308 Negra Arroyo Lane in "Breaking Bad," suburban living is often equated with single-family houses. Yet suburban apartments have quietly grown in popularity -- with a 97% occupancy rate in suburban Chicago as of year-end 2021, according to Integra Realty Resources -- and we can't build them fast enough to satisfy demand. I've been building suburban apartments since the late 1980s, and I can tell you the new incarnations are very different in look, feel and function from those of your grandparents.
Here are five ways:
More suburbs want them
When I began working for The Zale Group in 1988, the company was building apartments in Schaumburg -- at the time, a relatively new community (founded in 1956) -- because older communities did not want them, afraid they encouraged transience.Starting about 10 years ago, more suburbs discovered apartments were crucial to the renaissance of their downtowns, along with shops, restaurants and other businesses.
Now, older suburbs from Evanston to Elmhurst welcome new apartments and their tax revenue and foot traffic, as well as improvements such as public and private parking.
Mass transit is a crucial factor
If the bulk of earlier suburban apartments were built on the fringes of the community, many today are located in the heart of it all -- and with public transportation within walking distance.
TODs, or transit-oriented developments, are built near mass transit, typically commuter train stops or bus stops, and offer easy weekday access to Chicago for work or for weekend jaunts to enjoy shows, museums and festivals. (Reducing traffic and auto emissions is another plus.)
They offer high-quality amenities and finishes
The suburban apartments of yore often were a garden-style product, with -- if you were lucky -- a communal swimming pool.
Now we have things like a 15,000-square-foot amenity deck with a resort-style pool and hot tub, 24-hour fitness facilities and yoga studios, hoteling suites, demonstration kitchens, clubhouses, lounges, bark parks, pet spas and other luxe amenities.
Our Maple Street Lofts in Mount Prospect, for example, will soon host a ground-floor Angelo Caputo's Fresh Market.
Unit finishes also are much nicer. The vinyl sheet flooring and carpet of the 1960s, '70s and '80s has given way to laminated plank. Quartz counters, stainless appliances, in-unit washer/dryers and smart-phone-controlled building access and controls are common.
They offer open layouts and HGTV-influenced design
Because of all the shared common areas -- and a higher price per square foot -- today's units typically are smaller than a generation ago but use space much more efficiently.
For example, small galley kitchens separated by a wall or peekaboo window from living rooms have given way to open kitchen and living room layouts, making the whole unit feel more spacious.
Designs are vastly more attractive, now that apartments have become a residential destination rather than transitional housing.
Influenced by HGTV, Pinterest and travel, people of all incomes have a higher expectation of fit and finish, whether it's sleek urban sophistication or farmhouse chic, as with our Sixteen30 development in Plainfield.
Labor pools and building technologies are evolving
Making a living in the trades is not as popular as it was when I started out, so there's a labor shortage.
We also have moved from stick building to panelized construction, in which wall sections of the building are built off-site, then trucked to the site and assembled -- reducing installation time and improving quality.
From singles and young families to empty-nesters, more people than ever are choosing suburban apartments.
These conveniently located, strategically designed, well-built homes offer vacation-like amenities, easy access to suburban and Chicago downtowns and minimal maintenance -- giving the traditional single-family house a run for its money.