National homebuilder M/I Homes said sales for 35 larger-than-usual homes in the Chicagoland suburb of Downers Grove, Illinois, will start in December.
The development, called Talon Preserve, plans to include homes between 3,200 and 4,060 square feet, which the homebuilder noted is larger than available inventory in the suburb located 23 miles outside of Chicago.
“The lot sizes at Talon Preserve are larger than what is typically found in Downers Grove, which allows us to not only feature some of our most popular and generously sized floor plans, but also give buyers the opportunity to expand the footprint of their home with available options including a morning room or a family room extension on all plans,” said Cheryl Bonk, vice president of sales and marketing for M/I Homes, in an emailed statement.
The homes will replace a now-demolished radio station and three radio towers, which sat on 18 acres at the corner of 39th Street and Cumnor Road.
The unused radio towers and station building were most recently used for a sports radio station. The location first opened in 1928, operated by the Chicago Federation of Labor. Those structures were razed in June.
The acreage is surrounded by residential homes.
M/I Homes is currently developing the land for construction, with pre-sales set to begin in December.
The builder anticipates offering four available floor plans from its Classic Series, which includes two-story residences with a minimum of four bedrooms, a full basement and a three-car garage. Pricing has not yet been revealed, but the median sale price of a single-family home in Downers Grove is $490,000, according to Homes.com.
It’s one of several Chicagoland in-the-works developments for M/I Homes.
In June, the homebuilder closed on 6.2 acres for 42 townhouses in Lincolnshire. In August, it announced a plan to construct 260 units of single-family homes and townhouses in Lockport.
The homebuilder cites a lack of new construction throughout greater Chicago as a source of demand for its new project.
“Downers Grove and its immediately neighboring suburbs represent some of the most sought-after residential destinations in Chicagoland — and in these established areas, which have beautiful older existing homes, new-construction developments are quite uncommon,” said Rick Champine, area president of M/I Homes, in an emailed statement. “In Downers Grove specifically, even teardown redevelopment on stand-alone lots has been limited since the early 2000s, which makes the 35 homes at Talon Preserve a very unique opportunity for buyers.”
M/I Homes ranks nationally as the 13th largest builder, according to trade publication Pro Builder’s rankings. The company closed on just over 10,000 homes in 2024. It builds across 16 housing markets.