The Buck Stops Here by Barry Pearce

SBS stresses quality in prime Bucktown project

As a home buyer, try calling the CEO at most development companies, and the only satisfaction you’re likely to get is the knowledge that you’ve given a secretary her share of laughs for the week. At SBS Development, the CEO is the self-professed “getter-done guy,” who is not above making service calls, or for that matter, cleaning a new unit before buyers move in.

“If I get a call, within hours – or worst-case scenario, a day – I have a man on the job fixing the problem,” says Steve Weitzman, CEO of SBS Development, builder of the Claremont, a new 10-unit condo building in Bucktown. “In the last 30 days before delivering each unit, my son and I finish the job by cleaning it ourselves because as you clean, you also see the things that are wrong and correct them.”

And Weitzman says his goal is always for nothing to be wrong.

“I go to a closing and there’s no punch list,” Weitzman says. “I walk the building with colored dots, and wherever I want something fixed, I put dots. Then my son walks through and goes over everything and then the architect. Unless there’s a chandelier coming from Italy and it hasn’t arrived yet, we go to the closing without a punch list.”

Weitzman says he modeled his approach to building after the developer who built his home in Northbrook. The legendary developer’s work became a running joke for suburban property inspectors who challenged each other to find a single flaw in one of his homes.

“I said, that’s the kind of developer I want to be,” Weitzman says. “I taught my kids to treat every development as if it were their own home.”

The Claremont, Weitzman’s latest project, will be home to 10 condo buyers in Bucktown, at 1671 N. Claremont. The building has seven two-bedroom two-bath single-level units and three duplexes with three bedrooms and 2.5 baths. The homes are priced from $299,900 to $599,900, with covered parking spots available for $15,000 and uncovered spots for $10,000.

As you might expect from someone who sounds almost manic about quality and service, Weitzman doesn’t skimp on finishes. Standard features at the Claremont are considered upgrades at many developments, according to Weitzman. The units include 1¼-inch granite kitchen counters, GE Profile stainless steel appliances, full-sized washers and dryers, 42-inch maple cabinets, white oak floors and a choice of fixtures from the likes of Kohler, Grohe and Moen.

“The developers brought a suburban feel to the city, with wide floor plans and a high level of standards that would normally be upgrades,” says Eric Plotkin, the Coldwell Banker Lakeview agent selling the Claremont with Matt Garrison. “That’s one thing that surprised me when I started working with SBS Development. A lot of builders won’t even put a vent in without charging an extra $500.”

The Claremont will have a common roof deck, and the duplexes have private roof decks in addition to balconies.

“The units have extensive balconies that bring the outside into units; it’s like downtown is right there, you can reach out and touch it,” says Robert Katz, the architect who designed the Claremont and works full-time for SBS.

Katz says he created a higher level of intimacy in the four-story brick and limestone building by providing two distinct entrances – one on Wabansia and one on Claremont – to service two different sets of units. The site allowed for this sort of configuration and for extra-wide condos.

“The typical lot in Chicago is 25 feet wide, which gives you an exposure of 19 feet in width,” Katz says. “We designed these to be wider, 22 feet on Wabansia and 24 feet wide on Claremont, with wider expanses of glass. The Great room concept, with an open kitchen / living / dining area, and wider expanses of glass, creates a much more open, larger feel than you can get on a typical lot.”

The site is the former home of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center. SBS worked with the center in a creative arrangement that proves developers aren’t always at odds with community groups. Weitzman paid a fixed price for the property, cut the center in for 15 percent of each condo he sells and developed a new $1.3 million facility for the center in Humboldt Park.

That arrangement gave the center a more accessible location for its clientele and gave SBS a rare parcel in prime Bucktown, a chic enclave that’s been highly developed during the last decade.

“It’s the last nice, large project going on in Bucktown east of Western,” says Scott Weitzman, Steve’s son and the president of SBS. “The whole area is flourishing with new construction. It’s close to public transportation, close to the expressway. The restaurants in the area are some of the best in the country. There are a lot of dog-friendly parks. But you still will get a little more here for the money than you would in Lincoln Park or Lakeview.”

Ryan Weitzman, Scott’s brother and a recent college graduate, already is an integral part of the SBS team, Steve says. He serves as secretary and treasurer of the company and according to his father, has an uncanny knack for assessing property and running the numbers on a potential project. A hands-on family approach has been key to the developer’s success, according to Scott.

“On a three- to four-unit building, it takes most builders eight months to a year (to finish construction),” Scott says. “We’re averaging four to six months. When you do things yourself, you have more control. It definitely gets done quicker, and the finished product is incomparable to any other in the area.”

The on-site sales trailer, 1671 N. Claremont, is open weekdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. First occupancy at the project is expected in early winter.