Channahon Town Center: A Hometown Feeling With A Modern Twist (2024)

Community Corner

Stop by to take a look at the unique home designs offered by GDP Homes on Saturday, June 22 and enjoy a free ice-cream treat.

Posted Fri, Jun 14, 2019 at 4:11 pm CT

Located less than 10 minutes from Joliet and about 40 miles from Chicago, Channahon Town Center is a new community reminiscent of early 20th century-style homes boasting quality and refined craftsmanship. Channahon Town Center is the new version of small-town America, with valuable spaces throughout each neighborhood for the residents to enjoy now and well into the future.

Discover Channahon Town Center — a quiet community where you will find thoughtful planning, timeless design and attention to detail everywhere you look. Amenities include approximately 100 single-family homes and ranch duplexes within walking distance to award-winning blue ribbon schools, community parks with acres of open space, the Channahon Park District with numerous year-round activities, several local businesses and restaurants, as well as additional, soon-to-be-built commercial and retail establishments.

Patch sat down with construction manager and architect Mark Adair to learn more about this exciting new subdivision in Channahon.

Patch: What makes a healthy housing market in today’s market?

Adair: There are four indicators that determine a healthy housing market: stability, risk, ease of sale and affordability. Overall, Channahon ranked #2 which shows you that building in Channahon Town Center was a wise choice for GDP Homes.

Patch: Why Channahon?

Too many reasons to list actually! When researching towns, Channahon seemed the obvious choice because of the location which is outstanding. Interstate access is incredible for the residents of Channahon. We also liked that we could build in the “center” of town and that the residents could walk to local businesses and attractions. I also have to say the Village of Channahon has been amazing with GDP Homes and they have been extremely supportive since the first meeting. We know we made the right choice in Channahon and value the relationship we have with the Village.

Patch: Explain the inspiration behind building homes that resemble homes from years past.

Adair: Actually, Channahon Town Center started long before GDP Homes got involved. In 2006 the final concept of the development was approved by the village and construction started shortly thereafter. For a couple years, several single-family homes and a four-unit brownstone townhome buildings were built before the recession hit in 2008, and the builder moved on. Since then, the development has basically been sitting idle until GDP Homes got involved.

The Village of Channahon wanted us to stay with the original concept of older-style homes, so I designed The American Four Square, The Cape Cod, The Bungalow, The Traditional, The Cottage, and The Craftsman series inspired by homes built during the 1920s through the 1960s. The charm of the exteriors is reminiscent of homes you’d see in "The Andy Griffith Show" or "Leave It To Beaver." Inside, of course, is extremely modern offering the amenities buyers are looking for today.

Patch: How has the reception been to these homes? Is there a market?

Adair: We honestly thought we would have to find a smaller niche market of people that like the vintage-home look, but based on what we've been hearing I think buyers are tired of the vinyl cookie-cutter homes in huge subdivisions where you can't tell one house apart from another. Our homes are unique and classic, yet modern, and there aren’t rows and rows of them. We are pleasantly surprised at the array of buyers interested, definitely not what we were expecting.

Patch: Besides the exterior style being unique, what stands out with GDP Homes in Channahon Town Center over other builders?

Adair: GDP homes are stick-built, unlike many of our competitors, allowing us greater flexibility of design for our buyers. GDP also includes a large number of items as standard and not upgrades. We offer 9-foot-high first-floor ceilings, granite in both the kitchen and baths, oversized white 5 ¼” baseboards and 3 ½ casing, soft-close doors and drawers on cabinets in kitchen and baths, 50-gallon high-efficient gas hot-water heater, stainless steel kitchen appliances, Advantech subflooring, Zipwall wall sheathing and LP Smartside maintenance free siding which comes in 12 colors.

Elaborating a bit, GDP Homes puts in, as a standard, 42-ounce carpet on 8 lb. Guardian Plus moister barrier pad, while the typical standard carpet weight ranges from 25 to 32 ounces. Another notable standard is our garage sizes, ranging from 20x22 to 26x22 and come with an 8- foot-high garage door.

Patch: What else can you tell us about Channahon Town Center and the team that GDP Homes has assembled?

We take pride in building homes people can "live in" not "live for." We have homes starting in the $240,000 range and we offer a variety of home styles and color selections. GDP Homes plans on building high-end duplex ranches in the next few months with prices starting in the $250,000 range.

We have a fantastic team which includes myself, Rabecca Defalco, Susie Scheuber and LaNita Cates. I'm a licensed architect and have worked in the construction industry for close to 30 years, designing and building single family homes for an array of customers. Rabecca worked for a regional builder for six years where she was the top sales person. She brings an unbelievable amount of new construction sales experience to GDP Homes and we feel very fortunate to have her with us and know that she is a huge asset to any builder. Susie, with REMAX Ultimate Professionals lists many of our homes, has been a top producing Will County Realtor for 19 years and brings invaluable experience to us. LaNita is with REMAX Professionals and also lists our homes for us. She has been with REMAX 13 years and brings a ton of energy and knowledge about new construction to GDP Homes.

We would also like to invite your readers to come out on Saturday, June 22 from 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. and enjoy a free ice-cream treat on us.

Open House hours (subject to change): Sunday 12 p.m.-3 p.m., Tuesday 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Wednesday 12 p.m.-5 p.m., Thursday 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Friday 3 p.m.-7 p.m. and Saturday 12 p.m.-6 p.m.

Contact information:

Website: www.gdphomebuilders.com

Call: 815-255-8144

Text: BUILD7 to 88000.

Directions: I-55 to Route 6 (Eames Street) to Navajo round about west to Town Center Circle

Follow signs to the Model Homes.