South Elgin is shedding its sleepy image, becoming a burgeoning community of the 21st century.
It boasts a population of 21,985 and large developers continue to build homes and relocate families there, thanks to top ratings from Money Magazine, CNN/Money, Nerd Wallet and Safewise.
The area is served by two public school systems – St. Charles Community Unit School District #303 and School District U-46 in Elgin and by the highly-rated Elgin Community College. There are also three outstanding full-service health care facilities nearby – Presence Saint Joseph Hospital and Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin and Northwestern Medicine Delnor Community Hospital in Geneva.
“We improved a lot of infrastructure in South Elgin during 2017. We used a grant and spent $1.5 million to improve the McDonald Road bridge. Another grant is helping to widen the State Street bridge for better bicycle traffic, and is adding decorative elements and an overlook, another $1.5 million project,” said Steve Super, village manager.
“We also spent almost $4 million to reconstruct water mains, improve roads, and add sidewalks in the southeastern portion of the village. The village has committed millions of dollars to improving our older neighborhoods during the past several years, but this year’s investment is our largest,” Super said. “We are also remodeling portions of the village hall in order to separate the police and municipal lobbies.” This work is being completed with no increase in fees or taxes to South Elgin residents, something the village board is especially proud of, Super noted.
This was also an excellent year for South Elgin in terms of private development.
Two new single family home communities by national builders are building out quickly. K. Hovnanian Homes is building Sagebrook and the Pulte Group is building The Trails of Silver Glen. Both developments are offering homes from the upper $300,000s to mid $600,000s.
In addition, Cal Atlantic Homes is building new units in the formerly suspended Prairie Pointe townhouse community just north of South Elgin High School. Continental Properties broke ground on an upscale 300-unit apartment complex called “The Springs at South Elgin” at the intersection of Stearns and Randall Roads. It will feature an outdoor swimming pool, clubhouse and even a pet washing facility.
Businesses are also expanding to South Elgin. Haumiller Engineering is moving from a smaller industrial building in Elgin to a 60,000-square-foot facility in the Shannahon Commerce Park in order to hire an additional 75 workers in the coming years.
In addition, Montemayor Construction is building a new 45,000-square-foot industrial building that will house its own offices and have additional space to rent.
Commercial ventures that have opened recently in South Elgin include the Village Tavern & Grill on Redington Drive; C’era Una Volea, an upscale Italian restaurant on Randall Road; a new Speedway gas station with a café and fast diesel fill-up capacity on Bose Road at Route 31; a new Panera restaurant with a drive-through on Randall Road; and a new Dunkin’ Donuts on McLean Boulevard.
A Learning Experience childcare facility is also under construction and expected to open soon.
“We now have a vacancy rate of less than five percent along Randall Road, but throughout South Elgin we still have about 20 percent open land, thanks to several large farms which are sprinkled through the community. If those are ever developed residentially, our population could rise by another 20 or 25 percent,” Super said.