Recently, I had the honor of celebrating the open house and ribbon cutting of Uptown La Grange, our latest luxury multifamily development located in La Grange, Ill., a top commuter suburb of Chicago.
There was a lot to celebrate—the successful completion of a project and a great collaboration (a great team, working together to ensure a great project fit and bringing value to community).
On behalf of everyone at Opus, I also had quite a long list of people and organizations to thank. The following helped make this day—and this project—a reality:
- the Village of La Grange, all city staff who worked on the project, the Village Board of Trustees and members of the Planning Commission, Economic Development Committee and the La Grange Business Association;
- our financial partners at Carlyle, SunTrust and Wintrust;
- our property management partner Greystar;
- our construction field associates and
- the YMCA.
Working together, we have added housing options and green space and improved pedestrian and street traffic flow for the community. This project is a great (and literal) example of that old adage “It takes a village.”
To commemorate the spirit of stewardship and community that was a key part of this project, we dedicated a portion of Uptown La Grange in honor of Rich Port. Port was an entrepreneur, dedicated realtor, successful businessman and leader, great philanthropist, WWII and National Guard veteran, past chairman of the West Suburban YMCA in La Grange and the benefactor and namesake of the Rich Port YMCA that once stood on this site. While this site was vacant when we purchased it, we understand the significance of what previously stood on this property.
Our founder, Gerry Rauenhorst, shared qualities with Port, including a focus on service and stewardship. We understand the passion Rich Port had for his work and his community, and to honor him and those passions, we have named the library in Uptown La Grange after Port. A photo of Rich Port and one of the YMCA will stand in the section of the library dedicated to La Grange to continue telling his story of philanthropy, service and community
We have greatly appreciate the opportunity to be a part of the La Grange community.
Pictured Above
1: Dave Menke speaks to attendees of Camp Uptown La Grange. In honor of the site’s history, the open house and ribbon cutting event used a summer camp theme.
2: Dave Menke holds a photo of the Rich Port YMCA that once stood on the site, and Sarah Kolkman, community manager of Uptown La Grange for Greystar, holds a photo of Rich Port. The photos are now in the section of the building’s library dedicated to La Grange.
3: Kathy Dierkes, board president of the La Grange Business Association, and Dave Menke watch Tom Livingston, president of the Village of La Grange, cut the ribbon. Dave Everson, vice president of sales & finance for Opus Development Company, L.L.C. watches on the far right.
4: Dave Menke and Tom Livingston celebrate the moment