VOP Fall 2013

Fall 2013

Volume 31 - Number 4

Orland Park Named “Village of the Year” by Builders Association

The Village of Orland Park has been named “Village of the Year” by the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago (HBAGC), which lauded Orland Park for its community planning, growth and development. “This is a tremendous honor for Orland Park,” said Mayor Dan McLaughlin. “For the village to be recognized for its planning and development is wonderful. To be the first community ever named “village of the year” is outstanding." In its assessment of the Village of Orland Park, the association cited seven criteria that made the community stand out. Among them were the Ninety7Fifty luxury apartment development, the Build Orland Park Program that promotes residential housing, a significant increase in senior housing in the community as well as commercial and retail development. HBAGC also lauded Orland Park for the village’s 100% transparency index rating, its focus on infrastructure improvements that include pedestrian friendly access and the village promoting itself through social media and citizen engagement. The Home Builder Association of Greater Chicago’s Key Awards recognize excellence in housing design, architecture, interior merchandising, landscaping, landscape architecture and remodeling. Other recognition is given for innovation and creativity through the Crystal Key. “The Key Awards, over the years, have honored developments, builders, architects, homes, apartments, etc. We have never honored an entire village,” said HBAGC Vice-President Patrick Coveny, President/ Owner of Arch Construction Management, Inc. “We surveyed the Chicago area to find a village that met the criteria of promoting development, growth and community planning --- a village that understood how to balance housing and commercial development and a municipality that created incentives for builders to complete projects in their towns,” Coveny said. “Orland Park has a strong history of planning, dating back more than 120 years when the village’s founders first mapped out the community,” McLaughlin said. “More recently, the comprehensive plan that the village follows guides future growth and planning. This helps us make sound decisions that make Orland Park a prime location for residential and commercial developments.” “Orland Park showed us what they’ve been doing for the last few years and we wanted to honor a community that we thought was doing it right ---

“The Key Awards, over the years, have honored developments, builders, architects, homes, apartments, etc. We have never honored an entire village." Patrick Coveny, HBAGC Vice-President promoting growth, creating a vibe that attracts all sorts of development --- commercial, residential and multi- family,” Coveny said. “Orland Park has a vision and a strategic plan for a variety of housing and quality of life that puts its citizens first, all this while going through and coming out of a major recession,” Coveny added. “This award should be a model for other municipalities to follow.” McLaughlin accepted the award on behalf of the village at the HBAGC November 15th Key Awards Dinner in Arlington Heights. The not-for-profit Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago (HBAGC) was founded in 1939 and is a trade association representing more than 2,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other segments of residential construction. It is the oldest affiliate of the National Association of Home Builders whose headquarters are in Washington, D.C.

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www.orlandpark.org