Development of 1,300 Housing Units Begins in Chicago Suburb

By Caroline Broderick

A rendering of a possible home for The Grove. (Crown Community Development)

The first phase of a 760-acre development in a western Chicago suburb broke ground Thursday, beginning what is planned to eventually be about 1,400 housing units.

Developer Crown Community Development seeks to build out what’s called The Grove in suburban Sugar Grove, Illinois, with a mix of single-family homes, multifamily apartments, duplexes and townhouses on the site. Sugar Grove is 46 miles outside Chicago.

Managing Director Jennifer Cowan said the developer initially purchased the land between 2002 and 2004. It proposed an industrial-focused plan in 2019, which faced backlash from residents and pushed the developer to rescind its rezoning request.

The new plan, approved in September, is nearly half residential with plans for commercial, retail and office space, including a data center. Cowan noted the Chicago metropolitan area is in demand for new housing and remains strong compared to other markets.

“Because [Chicago] took so long to recover from the housing downturn, we really haven’t delivered enough new supply here for the demand in the market,” she said. “There is quite a bit of demand here in the Chicago area right now and we’re still very limited on resale supply.”

Phase one includes 214 single-family detached homes on 60- to 70-foot-wide lots. Crown Community Development is in the negotiation phase with homebuilders, but Cowan expects homes in phase one to offer four bedrooms or more with two- to three-car garages, plus a minimum of 2,700 square feet.

Pricing and designs are to be announced when sales commence in spring 2026. These will likely be The Grove’s largest homes, according to Cowan.

The Grove's town center plan includes parks, a beer garden and pickleball courts. (Crown Community Development) — The Grove’s town center plan includes parks, a beer garden and pickleball courts. (Crown Community Development)

The project is slated to have the first residential offerings in The Grove because of a needed transition between a neighboring area where houses sit on 100-foot lots, said Cowan. The northern portion of The Grove is expected to have smaller lots.

The developer also has flexible zoning, so it can develop multiple types of housing in the future, including age-restricted units.

Plans for The Grove also include parks, walking and biking trails, and 200 acres of open space. A center park could include a beer garden, space for a farmers market and outdoor sports activities, such as pickleball courts.

According to Homes.com, the average value of a home in Sugar Grove is $459,560, selling for an average $194 per square foot. It’s near Aurora, the state’s second-largest city.