Palatine growing at a comfortable pace

By Leslie Mann | Special to the Tribune

November 7, 2008

Palatine's revitalized downtown offers new condos and rowhouses in a town that is running short on open land for development. (Jim Prisching/Tribune)

The Ladies of the Preserve, an informal group named for their condominium complex, The Preserve of Palatine, gather at Lois Isler's place for Monday morning coffee and cookies. Together, this group of women, ranging in age from 20-something to 80-something, represent what Palatine is today. Some, including Isler, are new to the area but have family here. Others, including Diane Pellettiere, have roots that reach back into Palatine's history.

But the ladies nod in agreement when Pellettiere says, "Palatine has grown so much. But it still has a small-town feeling. We look out for each other."

"It's far enough away from [Chicago] that it's quiet and we have this view," says Kate Bonomo as she gestures toward the 91-acre Riemer Reservoir Park outside Isler's window. "But we are close enough to get on the train and be there in a half hour."

True to the real estate mantra "location, location, location," the ladies all say they chose their development because of its proximity to Palatine's amenities. They are within walking distance of the train station, a coffee shop, a grocery store, restaurants and downtown festivals. Bonomo says she can watch the Fourth of July fireworks show without leaving her living room.

If you think you have seen Palatine because you have driven down Northwest Highway, think again. In fact, the highway is Palatine's least-attractive side, lined with fast-food franchises and small businesses with dated facades. Drive into the heart of town, which is a few blocks west of the highway, and you'll find 19th Century gracious homes mixed with 21st Century red-brick rowhouses and condominium mid-rises like Isler's. At the heart of town is Towne Square, a park complete with a gazebo for gatherings on summer evenings.

Palatine's current population of 70,000 will max out at about 73,000 within the next 10 years, says Rita Mullins, Palatine's five-term mayor. Most of that increase will include buyers of the village's new condos and rowhouses, which will also add more single and empty-nest buyers to Palatine's mostly family demographic profile. The last farm shut its barn doors here in the 1990s, so Palatine is running short of open land for single-family subdivisions.

In the last 10 ten years, Palatine's single-family building permits peaked at 126 in 2002 and have dropped since. Multifamily permits, on the other hand, are holding their own between 100 and 200 units a year.

The Preserve of Palatine, with 94 units, is typical of the village's new multifamily housing. Prices start at $339,900 for two-bedroom condos. It is nearly sold out, but its builder, R. Franczak & Associates, is also selling condos at The Heritage Condominiums and The Stratford of Palatine, both of which are in downtown Palatine.

New rowhouses include Franczak's The Heritage of Palatine Brownstones, which have three stories and start at $494,900 for three-bedroom units.

Palatine Place, which is under construction by Focus Development, includes condos, two-story rowhouses and penthouses, plus retail space and a fitness center. Completed, it will occupy a city block a stone's throw from the village's new train station. Its rooftop garden will include a park-like setting for owners and their pets. The condos start at $229,900, while the rowhouses are priced from $476,900. The penthouses are sold out.

Buyers on budgets can find condos at The Woods at Countryside, a conversion by Chicago-based U.S. Residential. Old-timers know it as the former Countryside Apartments. About half of the 719 units have sold here, where one-bedroom units start at $156,400.

New single-family houses are harder to come by in Palatine, which made its last major annexation in 1999. Most new construction is on infill lots, where older houses on extra-large lots are replaced with two or three newer ones. Remodeling contractors are busy in Palatine adding second-story additions to ranch houses from the 1940s to 1960s.

The typical buyers of new houses on tear-down lots are young families, says Gary Wronkiewicz, president of The Stonefield Group,which builds five to 10 such houses in Palatine a year. A 2,800-square-foot, two-story house, in town and with amenities such as upscale kitchens and open layouts for entertaining, typically costs about $750,000, he says.

Buyers who want older houses can find a range of choices. Recent sales include an 1879 farmhouse fixer-upper for $270,000, a 1960s split-level at the edge of town for $340,000 and a 1920s restored bungalow for $400,000, reports Realtor Laura Weaver of Re/Max Unlimited Northwest in Palatine.

Despite the new multifamily housing, Palatine is still a family-oriented bedroom community. The village and its two park districts (Palatine and Salt Creek) offer golf courses, a water park, swimming pools, horse stables and a stocked fishing pond.

Hikers like the 15-mile Palatine Trail, which winds through neighborhoods, parks and the campus of Harper College.

The village hosts many annual events and festivals, including Street Fest, which draws 45,000 people every August.

To keep the streets safe for Palatine's kids, the village instituted a policing policy that keeps the same officers in the same neighborhoods, by bicycle, foot or car. "Then, if the Smiths' garage door is open and it usually isn't, someone notices," says Mullins.

Palatine's public schools get top billing. Its two high schools, William Fremd and Palatine, are consistent top-scorers on the ACT rankings of Chicago-area high schools. They are part of Township High School District 211, which also serves neighboring towns. Palatine also shares an elementary/junior high district, which is Community Consolidated School District 15. It has 15 elementary schools, four junior highs and an alternative school for special-need and at-risk students.

Private schools in Palatine include two Catholic high schools and Quest Academy, which serves gifted students from preschool to 8th grade.

Although many of Palatine's residents take Plum Grove Road to work in Schaumburg, the Metra train remains the No. 1 commuter vehicle here. In fact, says Metra, the Palatine station is the second busiest one on the Northwest line. Palatine's major employers are the school districts, Harper College, Weber-Stephen Products Co. and Schneider Electric.

Now that Palatine has joined its eastern neighbors as a mature Chicago suburb, its leaders are looking at redevelopment to keep its commercial property vital and its residential property valuable. Part of updating the village's long-range comprehensive plan this year will be a survey asking residents what they want. But Mullins says she already knows one answer: more restaurants, please.

Mullins' to-do list also includes building a new "green" police station and village hall, adding housing for senior citizens and continuing to encourage improvement of Northwest Highway building facades.

Palatine has come a long way since 1873, when Everett Chamberlain described it as a village with "three churches and a handsome grade school worth $11,000 . . . streets [that are] excellently finished . . . tracts selling from $75 to $300 an acre."

Property in Palatine may cost a lot more these days, but the village's priorities are the same: to remain a safe bedroom community where the neighbors are friendly and look out for each other.