McHenry Times

At its April 3 meeting, McHenry City Council welcomed representatives from Redwood Townhome Development to discuss their ideas for a development on the southwest corner of Chapel Hill Road and Illinois State Route 120. 

Paul Dekruiff came to present Redwood’s concept plan to city council to get their opinions and thoughts on the plan before the developer proceeds further into the planning and zoning review and approval process. 

 Dekruiff told council Redwood has many branches of development and neighborhood curation, however its main focus since conception has been 2-bed, 2-bath, 2-car garage, with den townhome neighborhoods. Council was told Redwood has 15,000 residents of these units in about 140 neighborhoods across 11 states. He stressed they were all rental properties that his company managed.

The concept plan presented by Dekruiff includes a new mixed-use development in the city, which would feature a combination of residential and commercial properties.

Council was told Redwood targets empty nesters, younger professionals, and residents who want a quiet neighborhood, single story design, with things like landscaping and snow removal taken care of. 

 Dekruiff said Redwood has a strict and thorough approval process for all of its residents. It has a high level of customer service that leads to long-term renters and residents. Dekruiff also shared some numbers that showed how much the development saved their residents in home costs and how much money they might bring into the local community through the development and in additional disposable income of residents.

The design of Redwood's neighborhoods features extremely high ADA access inside the homes and on the sidewalks, streets, and entrances to the community. The interiors are high end with plenty of storage space, open floor plans, and energy efficient appliances. Their floor plans range from 1300-1600 square feet and have a variety of arrangements to best fit the neighborhoods and culture around them. 

For McHenry, Redwood has plans for 180 homes which it will construct in two phases. The council members asked a few questions about the concept and design like colors and materials, services like snow removal and sewer hookups, and were overall interested in continuing with the development in their city.

"Thank you Paul for your presentation, I thought the material in our packet was well prepared," said Alderwoman Sue Miller. "I’m in real estate, so I think this is a development that could serve our community extraordinarily well. Most of the rental units that we have are two stories or with stairs. We have an aging population, and as you’ve identified, they no longer want to be homeowners. They want to have a new place to rent, they no longer want to maintain their old house. I think your development looks really nice."