Who We Are

Jane Rooney Byczek,

Vice President and Head of Design and Customer Relations

Jane oversees the design strategies and customer relations at SIM. Before joining Joe and starting SIM, Jane spent ten years developing her management expertise as a library manager in various suburban libraries. She also worked as a Library Consultant for the American Library Association and as an adjunct faculty member at Dominican University. She holds degrees in English, Psychology, and Secondary Education and a master’s degree in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Illinois in Urbana.

Jane became involved in the development field when Joe lost a selection assistant at JDL and needed a quick replacement. What was a temporary job soon became permanent as Jane found that she enjoyed the work and working with Joe. After training with many Chicago area designers and vendors she assisted hundreds of clients in selections for their condos and townhomes, Jane and Joe started their company when they designed and built what they thought would be their own home in Clarendon Hills. Since then, they have worked together on five of their own homes and numerous client projects of all sizes and styles.

During the 2008 economic downturn and lull in construction, Jane was hired to do plumbing design and builder relations at Waterware Luxury Plumbing. As the economy bounced back, Jane and Joe saw SIM taking on more general contracting projects. In recent years, Jane has also developed an area of the business that focuses on kitchen, bath, and room remodels that allow homeowners to refresh their existing homes stylishly and economically.

simplicity

SIM Development, LLC is about

family and legacy.

We approach every project as if we were

building for our own family. We use our business as a way to demonstrate to our children the importance of hard work, creativity, honesty, and integrity. In fact, our parent company is named

after our children, Sam, Isa, and Mick.

This leads naturally to the philosophy

that drives our whole business - SIMplicity. Our approach to building is

straightforward and easy to

understand and our final product is

innovative, clean, and elegant.

Joe Byczek,

President and Head of Construction and Finance

Joe oversees the hard construction, subcontractor management, and finances at SIM. Before starting his own company, Joe, who has a degree in Finance from the U of I in Urbana, spent over a decade in real estate lending and development. While finishing his MBA at the Kellogg School of Management, Joe was hired by Chorus Bank to make and maintain loans to real estate developers in the City of Chicago. He eventually joined one of his clients, JDL Development to handle their financials and to procure new properties and projects. Over time, his role in the company grew to include project management, marketing, customer service, building design, and even legal work. He oversaw the development of multi-million-dollar homes in Lincoln Park, condo, and townhome developments in the South Loop, and as well as other commercial and residential projects throughout Chicago.

In 1999, Joe and Jane purchased a property in Clarendon Hills with the intent of building their family home. Before completion, they received an offer to purchase the home from someone who had been watching the construction and loved the style. This was the beginning of their development company. In the years since, Joe has been the sustaining force behind SIM and has overseen numerous residential and commercial projects that range in size, scope, style, budget, and location.

When the construction world fell apart in 2008, Joe was able to combine his knowledge of banking and development while working for several Chicago area banks including Corus, Wheatland, and Wintrust handling properties purchased through the FDIC. As the real estate market began to bounce back, Joe returned full time to running SIM and to building our client relationships.