Answering the market

In a marketplace with so much growth happening so quickly, Derek Sulo of Chicago-based builder Sulo Development sees consumers benefiting from the close association of builders and brokerages.

“As developers, obviously we’re trying to make a living,” Sulo says. “We also understand that the homebuyer is trying to invest in something that they’re going to be in potentially long-term, and they want to be set up with the right people.”

New home buyers want to get a good deal, he says, and the relationship between the right broker and developer can help make that happen.
Sulo works with brokers Mark Icuss and Tim Sheahan of CONLON/Christie’s to bring his firm’s luxury homes and condo developments to buyers in the West Loop, Lincolnwood, Lake View, the Gold Coast and other established Chicago neighborhoods. They came together in 2012, when Sulo and his brother and co-principal Dominic were looking to get involved in residential real estate and Icuss was looking for a developer for a parcel. Icuss and Sheahan take a very hands-on approach with the new construction they sell.

“We’ve sold a bunch of different projects for them – condos, luxury single families, and now they have these large West Loop developments that we’re working on,” Icuss says. “We’ve been with them from day one and we’re involved from the get-go on every project, identifying, underwriting, concepting, floor plan design, finishes – we’re involved in every step of the process.”