Red Seal Homes - Excellence in building since 1934

Todd Fishbein, left, and Brian Hoffman of Red Seal Homes stand outside Shermer Place in Northbrook. They specialize in complicated infill projects.

Building duo ready to tackle tough projects
Daily Herald; Jun. 29, 2003; Pam DeFiglio, Daily Herald Staff Writer;

Lots of developers like to eye attractive parcels of land - especially if they're in a desirable suburban downtown.

Many developers take a pass, however, if the parcels are tied up in legal or governmental red tape.

Not Red Seal Homes. With an attorney and a financial guy heading up the firm, and with three of the principals having served on village plan commissions or other government bodies, the developers have the knowledge to pursue those deals.

Although nobody loves government wrangling, Red Seal has shown an expertise in doing just that.

"We focus on complicated infill projects,"says Todd Fishbein, president and CEO of Red Seal Homes.

That's how the company eventually prevailed in building 176 homes at the Town of Fort Sheridan.

Other developers rehabbed existing buildings in that project, which sits in Highland Park and Highwood, but Red Seal constructed new homes.

Dream homes: Fishbein says he just finished building his in Highland Park.
"We were able to build a traditional Georgian with detail that's reminiscent of that architectural period,"he says.

While his home only looks like it was from an earlier era, Hoffman's dream home actually is.

"We're taking an 1875 Italian Victorian home and updating it,"he says. It was one of the five original homes built in Highland Park.

History: Joe and Mark Horowitz founded Red Seal in 1934. Joe Horowitz's son-inlaw, David Hoffman, became CEO in 1972.

Now, David Hoffman is passing on the leadership mantle to Brian Hoffman, his son, and Fishbein, his son-in-law.

Brian Hoffman has a background in finance and marketing, and he started at the company as controller. He has been at the company 13 years and serves as vice chair and CFO.

Fishbein got a law degree and practiced real estate law, "sort of knowing I'd eventually end up here,"he says. He started at Red Seal as general counsel. Even now, he functions as the expert in legal matters and the land zoning process, though he has a general counsel working under him.

Favorite new home feature: Fishbein says it's electric floor heating systems that can be installed under tile. Perfect for cold bathroom tile on a winter morning, he says.

For Hoffman, it's the many options in lighting.

"It can really change an environment with not a lot of expense,"he says.
Buyer profile: Since Red Seal sells homes, townhouses and condos and rents apartments, it depends.

For the single-family homes, the typical buyers are affluent young families. Since the company does about $60 million in gross sales per year on about 100 to 115 units, the average purchase price is $500,000.

For the townhouses and condos, the typical buyer may be an empty-nester sizing down from a single-family home.

Biggest changes in the industry: Large, publicly held development companies have gotten a foothold in the Chicago market, Hoffman says.

"They buy land differently than the typical builder. There are companies that need to do 1,000plus homes a year,"he says.

Fishbein notes that governmental bodies have increased their level of oversight and regulation.

"Even 10 years ago, the number of government bodies, the intensity of scrutiny, the depth and length of the process - it's more exhaustive and in-depth today,"he says.

But he's not complaining.

"It creates exciting opportunities for us.

"We work with government. The idea is 'lock arms, not horns,"he adds.
Best part about being a builder: "Seeing a project go from a phone call to a fully built community,"Fishbein says.

The future: Hoffman says the company will stay focused on its niche of complicated infill projects, not try to grow huge.

Working on:

• Making the final deliveries at Fort Sheridan. The 146 single-family homes sold for $450,000 to $2 million. The 30 townhouses sold for $350,000 to $425,000.

• Shermer Place, featuring three-bedroom townhouses and one-, two- and threebedroom condos, for a total of 295 units in downtown Northbrook. The townhouses, from $400,000 to $525,000, have all sold, while the remaining condos are priced from $280,000 to $420,000.

• Northgate Apartment Community, Waukegan. It features 363 luxury apartments, which rent from $800 to $1,500. Red Seal also owns and manages an apartment community in Lindenhurst.