$500K Elmhurst Home? 'Relatively Affordable'

ELMHURST, IL – In many places, a home costing $500,000 would be considered out of reach.

But a real estate agent for an Elmhurst townhome developer says that's a "relatively affordable price point" locally.

In 2020, the median housing price in Elmhurst house was $442,000, according to the U.S. Census.

Elmhurst resident John Pembroke is proposing a 36-unit townhome development at 240 W. Lake St. That land has been vacant for years, once the site of a Ford auto body shop.

The city's Zoning and Planning Commission plans to take up the proposal at its meeting Tuesday.

Pembroke hired Mike Muisenga of Elmhurst's Berkshire Hathaway Prairie Path real estate agency to conduct a market study for the development.

Pembroke has submitted the real estate report to the city.

In the report, Muisenga said most new construction has been focused on the higher end, with homes going for $750,000 to $1 million. Those types of prices, he said, are "unattainable and unsuitable" for prospective homeowners in Elmhurst.

In the report, Muisenga said empty nesters and younger city dwellers are looking for a "relatively affordable price point in Elmhurst." That price is around $500,000, which is what Pembroke proposes, Muisenga said.

Now, prospective homeowners looking for $500,000 properties are limited to homes built more than two decades ago, he said.

"That being said, the demand has been there, but there has been no new supply of this price point in town for a very long time," Muisenga said.

For the Lake Street project, Pembroke's company, Island Construction, is seeking $971,000 in assistance from a city tax increment financing district — $585,000 for water and storm sewer, $360,000 for fee waivers and $26,000 for a city alley, according to its application.

Pembroke told a City Council committee last year that the project would "definitely" need city help.

Another townhome development has been proposed for Butterfield Road. It would be the second phase of the Eldridge Townhomes, adding 50 more units.