Home Builders Gets a Home of Its Own

(LOMBARD, IL) – The Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago (HBAGC) announced today that it is breaking ground on a home of its own – a brand new facility to house its offices. The new building will be located in the Chicago suburb of Addison just east of Interstate-355 at the southwest corner of Army Trail Road and Route 53. A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Monday, December 8.

“Given the industry that we’re in it’s only fitting that the HBAGC should own a home of its own,” said Mike Cason, 2003 president of the HBAGC and senior vice president of Summit Homes. “The new facility will give the members a chance to congregate, study, and meet in a centrally located and easily accessible place. We’re looking forward to its completion.”

The new, one-story, 10,000 square foot building will serve as the headquarters for membership activities and for the staff. It will feature a training center so members can easily participate in educational programs where they can receive certification for professional development and enhancement. It also will be equipped with a Board of Directors meeting room, an executive meeting room, a builder center for making educational resources available to the membership, and a library. It is expected that construction of the building will be completed in the late spring.

To help finance the project, which is being called the Home Builders Campus, members have donated material and labor, and have made monetary contributions to offset the cost.

“The members of the Association have come together as a team to make a headquarters facility a reality,” said Peter Schwartz, CEO, HBAGC. “Everyone has put a lot of thought into the new building and how it will be used. It is going to be a very functional facility as well as one that the membership can be very proud of. We’re very excited about this.”

The Association is made up of companies that produce more than 80 percent of the total annual inventory of new homes in the Chicagoland nine-county area. Overall, it represents more than 2,200 companies and individuals in residential building and development and other companies and individuals from industries related to residential construction such as remodeling, design, finance, building products, manufacturing, advertising and publishing. A not-for-profit organization, the Association provides its members with networking in addition to educational opportunities, and represents them in matters of government relations and advocacy. The area the HBAGC covers includes Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties.

Additionally, the HBAGC is the oldest home builders association in the country having been chartered in 1939. It served as a model for the formation and establishment of the National Association of Home Builders in 1941.

For more information, please contact Julia Roberts, communications director of the HBAGC at 630/627-7575.