SKOKIE — StreetScape Development had completed its dynamic housing project for downtown Libertyville’s School Street — most of the houses had been built and great attention had been paid to this new yet familiar way of urban living — when the inevitable question was asked.

What’s next?

John McLinden, owner of StreetScape, said that a dozen or so municipalities inquired about creating a similar housing project that would transform a downtown street into something vital and in keeping with how people want to live.

In the end, StreetScape chose downtown Skokie’s Floral Avenue for its next project.

“Skokie is kind of like the second album,” McLinden said. “That’s often more important than the first hit album in so many ways.”

The idea behind StreetScape housing has everything to do with living in an urban setting in a more efficient, community-minded way. Houses are built close together, mostly with front porches, and space is laid out economically and customized with each buyer in mind.

“We’re at the forefront of a major trend in the housing industry and in how Americans want to live,” McLinden said. “That’s the really big story here. And that’s what’s so exciting about what we’re doing.”

To pave the way for future development on the street, the village had acquired older properties including a bowling alley and a dry cleaners that it ultimately tore down. Then a couple of village officials saw the Libertyville development and their first thoughts turned to Floral Avenue. They brought back others from Skokie who agreed that it would be a perfect fit.

Economic Development Coordinator Tom Thompson called the homes “a throwback to the old Chicago bungalows and arts-and-crafts style houses that were always situated in a gangway to the house right next to it.”

Marketing Director Ann Tennes, one of the first to see the Libertyville project, said there was immediate recognition that Floral would be ideal.

“It’s an awesome, awesome location,” she said when the project was first introduced. “There’s authenticity about Skokie and a very rich history. There’s a very strong sense of community here and, of course, a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood.”

March construction

Construction on historic Floral Avenue in downtown Skokie won’t begin until March.

The project will start on the north end of Floral. Once six houses are sold — and three already have been purchased — the developer can sell houses to the south on Floral under the agreement.

The project is similar to the original School Street housing development, but there are also key differences. Conceptually, both projects create a “community block” just off of downtown with well-built and aesthetically beautiful homes, smaller living spaces (although they vary) and front porches.

The Libertyville project, though, doesn’t include coach houses; instead, it converted an old and abandoned school building into attractive loft living spaces alongside the single family houses. All 26 of the houses in Libertyville have been sold, although some of the 15 lofts are still available.

Fortune Magazine Assistant Managing Editor Leigh Gallagher’s book, “The End of the Suburbs,” extensively covers changes in the housing industry in recent years. She concluded that it’s the first time urban growth is outpacing suburban growth.

“It’s really the urbanization of the suburbs,” McLinden said about this changing trend.

Most telling is that StreetScape pursued the School Street development around 2010 in the heart of the recession. Many developers were stopping projects or running in the other direction then, but StreetScape moved ahead, and it paid off.

“What we’re excited about is not only our impression of what’s happening here, but that it taps into where the American dream is moving,” McLinden said. “People have done the McMansion thing. People want to ditch their big 6,000-square-foot house.”

“The McMansion thing” — large houses in suburbs with cul-de-sacs and other separated areas for living — made homeowners dependent on automobiles. In Libertyville, McLinden said, there is easy access to a historic downtown that can be reached by walking or bicycle.

That rings true for Skokie as well. Floral Avenue is one of the oldest streets in downtown. It was the heart of downtown Skokie until Lincoln Avenue and Oakton Street took over.

Floral is now a side street that sits across from Village Hall and the Skokie Public Library. In recent years, the village has made major strides in upgrading the long-dormant downtown, bringing in new ethnic restaurants and other businesses and finally building a long-awaited downtown CTA train station.

These efforts, McLinden said, helped land StreetScape’s next housing project in Skokie.

When the idea for the School Street housing was first conceived, McLinden was told he would get mostly empty-nesters. He disagreed and proved to be right. School Street homes have empty-nesters living there, yes, but also families with older and younger children.

What this diverse mix of residents shares in common is a desire to drive a little less and walk a lot more.

“There’s a customer on School Street who is in the medical industry who said he wants to come home on a Friday and wants to ditch his car for two-and-a-half days and not use it until Monday,” McLinden recounted. “Here he doesn’t have to.”

StreetScape listed the base price for single-family houses in Skokie (roughly 1,850 square feet) at $450,000, and for coach houses (roughly 1,200 square feet) at $300,000. The prices will likely go up, though, as future owners customize their homes with extras and options.

The Libertyville homes are priced a bit higher.

Both developments, though, allow for great flexibility from homeowners. There will be nine prototypes from which to choose, but that is just the starting point of an owner’s choices.

Libertyville tour

The Review recently toured the most expensive School Street house in Libertyville, a striking multi-story home of a few hundred thousand square feet that sold for roughly $1.2 million. Workers were getting it into shape for a move-in only days away.

The space in each room, on each floor, was optimized with efficiency in mind. The buyer had sat down with StreetScape, as each buyer does, and together they mapped out how the home should be built, how the space should be designated.

Large windows on the home’s top floors overlook the handsome School Street development, providing a panoramic view of residences that flow well together and appear as a community.

That’s what Floral Avenue will look like, too, McLinden promised.

There is a palpable sense of excitement when he talks about this upcoming project, and he can’t help but repeatedly describe its various features as “awesome.”

McLinden clearly believes this new wave of housing is almost tailor-made for a downtown like Skokie.

“It’s a really authentic community,” he said. “It’s not one of the outer ring suburbs that became all about housing and strip malls. It’s an authentic downtown.”

He also has a personal connection to downtown Skokie.

McLinden still remembers buying a sport jacket from Mr. Eddie’s Clothing Store in downtown Skokie for his eighth-grade graduation. He still remembers his mother taking him shopping at other stores downtown when downtown looked a whole lot different.

“Downtown Skokie is coming to life again thanks to what the village has done,” the developer said. “We kind of think of Skokie as a sleeper, but we know that it won’t be that way for much longer.”