With an emphasis on residential development, The Windmill Group not only builds high quality single-family and multi-family developments, but is also involved in responsible land development. The Windmill Group develops and builds custom homes in prestigious neighborhoods throughout southeast Michigan. The Windmill Group name is synonymous with traditional high-end residential design. Thorough research into each endeavor assures a successful conclusion to each community that is created, including spacious living areas, gourmet kitchens and exquisite master suites. Sophisticated exterior elevations and use of natural and architectural lighting completes each Windmill Group home. Elegance in design and skilled workmanship are the hallmarks to a Windmill Group community. The company's skilled professionals represent years of construction and development expertise embracing innovative and imaginative concepts in the ever-evolving home building industry. The Windmill Group's principals, Stuart Michaelson, Sami Harb and George Mager, routinely attend national conventions and trade shows to ensure the latest technology and construction innovations are used in a Windmill Group community. The Windmill Group represents years of construction and development experience embracing innovative and imaginative change in the constantly evolving home building industry. The Windmill Group ...Building value for your future.
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Our History
For two decades, Stuart Michaelson and his highly regarded building company, Stewart Homes, have created homes of lasting value in some of Southeast Michigan's most highly acclaimed home developments, including the award winning Chase Farms community in Novi. His passion for home building and development has continually inspired Stuart to respond to the evolving needs of the marketplace. At the brink of the new millennium, Stuart has joined forces with longtime friend and business associate Sami Harb to form the Windmill Group, and has introduced an extensive new home, condominium and retail development that has been 10 years in planning, Walden Woods.
"Sami and I have been working on projects together since the mid 1980s," Stuart relates. "One of our early joint ventures was developing a 30-home site subdivision in Troy called Windmill Ridge, which became the namesake for our new company. In the following years we worked together developing and/or building homes in several area developments, including The Forest at Wood Creek condominiums in Farmington Hills and Ashford Farms in Rochester Hills.
Since we had been involved in so many joint ventures, we decided to merge our companies into a single entity to enable us to address the needs of our customers even more effectively." He originally teamed up with Stuart Michaelson as one of four builders in the gorgeous Mission Springs development in West Bloomfield.
Sami comments, "Since we both have a background in custom home building, Stuart and I have an extremely good sense of detail in home construction and won't compromise on the quality of our home product. We are also very conscious of the lifestyle amenities people are looking for in their home and community, such as exciting, thoughtfully designed floor plans and elevations, memorable entrances, parks and walking trails. It's something we always pay close attention to, regardless of the price range of the development.
"Sami Harb, a registered civil engineer, has been a well-respected developer of new home communities in the Southeast Michigan area since the late 1970s. His first subdivision, Grosse Pines, included 143 home sites and was considered the flagship new home neighborhood in Rochester Hills at the time. In the 1980s, Sami expanded his business to encompass custom home building throughout the Rochester Hills, Bloomfield and Northville areas. The Windmill Group's first venture as a single entity is Walden Woods, located in Van Buren township on Tyler Road at Morton Taylor Road. Walden Woods is a spectacular undertaking, a 150-acre site encompassing 300 single-family homes, 200 multifamily residences, and an 11-acre retail shopping center. The community will include several parks, a pond site, miles of walking trails and a fabulous swim club. Stuart notes, "Sami and I had purchased the property back in 1991 from a friend of mine. Van Buren township is located just south of Canton township, and we had anticipated that at some point in the future the intense residential development in Canton would expand into Van Buren township. The parcel will be transformed into a lovely, 21-detached condominium unit community called The Forest at Orchard Lake featuring 2700 square-foot, story-and-a-half luxury condominiums.We proposed our plan for a PUD (planned urban development) to the township and it was accepted in 1992.
Sami adds, "All the hard work we have been putting into Walden Woods for many years is finally coming to realization as we break ground on the first phase of the single-family portion of the project. Initially, homes will be priced from around $200,000 and will range from 1,700 to 2,200 square feet in size. We are working with some of the area's leading architects to create designs with innovative floor plans and amenities with the family in mind. We have also invited two other building companies to join us in building this community. "Walden Woods isn't the only project on the horizon at the Windmill Group. The company has purchased a nine acre, wooded parcel on Orchard Lake Road across from Oakland Community College from the City of Farmington Hills. The Forest at Hunters Pointe, also located in Farmington Hills on Drake Road just north of Thirteen Mile Road, will feature 13 2,700 square-foot, story-and-a-half detached units in a beautiful setting highlighted by ponds and wetlands. For those seeking the carefree lifestyle of condominium living but on a smaller scale, The Forest at Hunters Pointe only has 2 home sites left for purchase. Sami points out, "Many of our customers who purchase condominiums are coming from larger homes and they want the same level of quality, luxury and amenities they have become accustomed to. So we work very hard to anticipate the needs of our customers from the very early stages of design throughout the actual construction.
"Stuart adds, "We have been very fortunate in putting together an exceptional, professional team of people on our staff. Several have been with me for many years, including Denise Nordstrom, our controller; Doug Ammerman, who oversees purchasing and field operations; Norm Belli, our field superintendent for single-family homes; along with his assistant Lowell Parker who can fix and repair anything. Everything we do is a solid team effort. It takes a great deal of time and attention to build a good home. We firmly believe that when someone purchases a home or condominium from us, they should expect and we will deliver the best quality product possible.
"To help ensure those customers' expectations are fulfilled, Windmill Group's staff often meets with purchasers after they move into their new home to find out what they enjoy or would like to see changed in the building process or home design. The Windmill Group's attentiveness to kitchen, bath and bedroom designs are among the results of this feedback. Stuart and Sami regularly attend the National Home Builders Association annual convention to scope out the latest developments in home building products and technologies. Stuart is very active in the Building Industry Association of Southeastern Michigan, serving as vice president, and is a director for the Michigan and National Home Builders Associations.Stuart notes, "Being active in the Builders Association provides a great opportunity to talk with builders and developers from all over the United States to find out what they are doing, what is working and what isn't. Something we now incorporate in all of our homes and condominiums as a result of those recommendations is wiring the home to 'Category 5' standards. Category 5 wiring allows data access from every room in the home, routed to a centralized point, and is capable of being upgraded as new technology becomes available. We feel that is something that will soon become customary in residential homes. While we are cautious about new building and product technology, we remain keenly aware of what the future has in store."Stuart Michaelson, Sami Harb, and the extraordinary team at the Windmill Group represent years of construction and development experience embracing innovative and imaginative change in the constantly evolving home building industry. Stuart affirms, "We not only strive to create a nice home in a nice community, we are also creating value for our customers. It's something that I find great satisfaction in when visiting our developments years after they are completed. There's a terrific sense of pride in having been a part of shaping the way those neighborhoods look today. The Windmill Group is building value for the future."
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