Lennar ready to build townhomes on Joliet’s west side

Lennar Homes could have its first townhomes in the Lakewood Prairie subdivision built by November after getting final approval from the Joliet City Council.

“We have already broken ground,” Todd Kleven, director of land acquisition for Lennar, said after the council vote Tuesday.

Excavation began after approval of the preliminary plat for the project, he said. Construction of townhome buildings likely will start in August, with the first units ready by November, Kleven said.

Lennar will build 33 buildings containing 180 townhomes in the subdivision at Theodore Street and Ridge Road. The townhomes will be owner-occupied, and prices are expected to range between $350,000 and $380,000. Townhomes will be between 1,550 and 1,800 square feet in size.

The project faced no opposition, similar to what the city has seen for other multifamily projects that involved rental apartments.

“I literally have not had one call or email on it,” council member Sherri Reardon, whose District 3 includes the far west side neighborhood, said at a council workshop meeting Monday.

The council vote for approval was unanimous.

A previous plan in 2021 to build apartments at Lakewood Prairie faced strong opposition from neighbors before the developer gave up on the project.

Townhomes were part of the plan for Lakewood Prairie, when land was annexed to the city in 2003 and construction of single-family homes followed, according to a city staff memo.

The townhome development was delayed by the recession that halted what was then a fast pace of housing construction on the city’s far west side.