Mayor Terry D'Arcy's New Joliet Subdivision Prairie Landing Under Construction: Patch Takes You Inside

JOLIET, IL — Now that we've reached 2026, one of the biggest construction projects in the entire city of Joliet is taking place off Essington Road as Mayor Terry D'Arcy's new single-family home subdivision, Prairie Landing, is being built.

The model home for D.R. Horton was completed at the end of December and Chad Schorr, new home specialist for D.R Horton Chicago, told Joliet Patch's editor that it took only 27 days to complete.

Prairie Landing calls for construction of 120 single-family homes, and the price range will be in the mid $400,000s, the marketing brochure outlines. All homes will have a full basement and iced-white quartz countertops, none of the homes will be a ranch. Prairie Landing will have city of Joliet water and be part of the Plainfield School District 202. Children will attend Grand Prairie Elementary, Timber Ridge Middle School and Plainfield Central High School.

As of this week, in addition to the newly built model home, approximately five new homes are now under construction. Schorr said he's hoping to sell 20 to 30 homes during this year. D.R. Horton's plan is to start construction on two to four new homes per month, he explained.

All the new homes will offer four bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths, he said. Prairie Landing will feature a park within the subdivision. Schorr envisions that construction of the 120 homes will be a three-year build out. D.R. Horton has built several subdivisions in the Joliet and Plainfield area, he explained, including Legacy Pointe, Ashford Place and Lakewood Prairie.

Schorr is staffing the Prairie Landing model home seven days a week for prospective home buyers to visit and ask questions. He's on site Monday from 1 to 5 p.m. and Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. When the clocks spring forward, he will stay open until 6 p.m.

Schorr said that members of the U.S. military, law enforcement, firefighters, educators and health care professionals can receive $1,000 in option credit toward the purchase of their home under the Main Street Stars program offered by D. R. Horton.

Last March, Joliet Patch published a story about the new h—ousing development for Joliet headlined, "New Subdivision Unanimously Approved For Land Owned By Mayor Terry D'Arcy." The article noted that during the past two nights, Mayor D'Arcy repeatedly stood up from his seat at the Joliet City Council Chambers dais to walk out of the room for several minutes at a time.

D'Arcy chose not to make any public statements regarding his behavior. Instead, he left it up to other Joliet city officials to explain that D'Arcy had a financial interest in the Prairie Landing subdivision project along Essington Road that is adjacent to his D'Arcy Motors dealership.

Joliet City manager Beth Beatty — only after being asked a series of transparency questions by Councilman Larry Hug— revealed that the development company of Westside Joliet Real Estate LLC consisted of two people, Mayor D'Arcy and Bob Calzaretta of Palatine.

When it came time for the vote, the Council approved the planned unit development proposal unanimously while D'Arcy abstained from the vote and remained in a different room of City Hall.

As for the new subdivision, Joliet Patch has previously reported that:

• The preliminary Planned Unit Development of Prairie Landing Subdivision consists of 120 single-family lots on approximately 44 acres.
• Lots are organized around a main road which is accessed from Essington Road. The subdivision includes multiple storm detention areas.
• Proposed lots will be built to R-2 zoning requirements, which include a minimum lot area of 7,500 square feet.
• Proposed house plans include three models with around 10 total elevations.
• Homes will be two-stories and approximately 2,000 to 2,600 square feet.
• Front elevations include between 25 percent and 41 percent brick or stone, with an average of 34 percent.
• Prairie Landing will have a main access road off Essington Road along with interior streets that feed back into the main street.