Thrush Cos. builds in city areas
where others fear to tread

January 21, 2000

BY BILL RUMBLER Assistant Real Estate- Editor

George Thrush doesn't like to follow the beaten path. When he got started in Lincoln Park 30 years ago, friends wondered if his head was screwed on right for working in what was then a run-down, gang-infested area.

When the North Side got too hot and pricy, he looked west and south.

When he built Block X on the Near West Side, it was the first new construction project of any size there and helped the area take off.

When he built on the South Side, he brought the first new housing to some neighborhoods in 40 or 50 years.

For going into city areas where other big builders feared or hesitated to tread, Thrush Cos. was named Sun-Times Builder of the Year for 1999. Typically, the builder who sells the most homes, or who enjoys a boom year, wins this award, but this year we're departig from tradition.

This is not to say Thrush didn't enjoy not only a banner year, but the company's best year ever. Closed sales volume of nearly $50 million last year was 10 times higher than the previous year, and the number of homes closed, 208, compares with 29 the year before.

Thrush attributed last year's success to several factors. The first is the booming city market, the strongest he's ever seen.

Another is Thrush's long-term philosophy of finding areas that are just emerging on the South and West sides. His development formula is to do quality new construction in an urban context not yet generally accepted, he explained.

"We have the capacity and understanding of where these emerging neighborhoods are. I think we're very good at it," he said. Some call it pioneering, but he just calls it anticipating the market.

Thrush also said he always had trouble paying high prices for land and always wanted to go where the cheaper stuff was. Thrush no longer has any projects on the expensive North Side.

Another factor is seeing the potential of the South Side as a whole. Thrush first got involved there in the early '90s, doing town houses in Dearborn Park II. That led to a deal with Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp. to construct the first market-rate housing in Woodlawn in 45 years, Plaisance Place.

He's currently building three town-house projects on the South Side.

Thrush calls the Shakespeare project at 46th and Woodlawn in Kenwood the "educational community." That's because it's across the street from a charter grade school and the North-Kenwood Oakland School run by the University of Chicago.

It's the first mixed-income development on the South Side, Thrush said, as it'll have 12 CHA units among its 92 homes. Prices range from $165,000 to $334,000.

Another project is the Park Townhomes of Lake Meadows, where the first phase of 38 homes on east 32nd Street recently sold out.

"This was a questionable project, but we had confidence in the area," Thrush said. "Other [developers] walked away."

Sales have started on the second phase, which goes for $265,000 to $405,000.

The third project is Plaisance Place IV in Woodlawn, where prices range from $239,999 to $269,900.

Thrush currently is bidding to do a project on south Drexel Boulevard as part of a city-sponsored development program. Partnering with Granite Development, an African-American-owned company, Thrush has proposed building a mixed-income project of 155 units on the boulevard designed by Frederick Law Olmated, the landscape architect.

"We're incredibly excited by this potential," he said.

Thtush always tries fio build near parks and green space. The Lake Meadows project is newly surrounded by parkland, and his new West Side project, Block Y, is across the street from a park.

In addition, the company prides itself in providing plenty of green space of its own. Both Block X and Block Y, for example, incorporate landscaped courtyards.

"Nobody in the city can match the green space that we have," he stated.

Thrush also is building several dozen homes under the New Homes for Chicago neighborhood revitalization program.

Building this affordable housing was "not something that's economically satisfying to us from a profit point of view," he said. "But it's good for the city, and it does give us exposure that's valuable."

Thrush, 72, who's been enamored of Chicago neighborhoods ever since he moved here 40 years ago, is a big supporter of Mayor Daley's programs to build affordable homes to boost sagging areas.

"I admire him immensely for the support he's given these programs," Thrush said. 'Nothing is as powerful in the resurrection of a community than home ownership." Owning a home, he said, means "people are transformed in their attitudes: They become better citizens, and they become more active in the community."

Why would a builder get involved ifthe profits aren't there? "We want to make a profit, but its not mutually exclusive to make a profit and help the city," he said. "If you enjoy what you're doing and can make a profit, why not? Perhaps not the greatest profit, but you feel good about it."

It's a lot more satisfying than building milion-dollar condos in high-rises, he said.

Thrush has done all his building in the city, with the exception of one project years ago in Glen Ellyn.

"It was a good design and we're proud of it, but we all concluded, 'Hey, this is not us,'" he said.

None of the company's five principals has ever lived in the suburbs, and almost all of the company's employees live in and enjoy the city.

He's proud that the company matches the ethnic and racial diversity of the city. After pointing out that the company employs Hispanics, African Americans and Filipinos, he mentioned that a recently hired engineer is Chinese American.