The purchaser of the Pines restaurant property on Harrison Street is close to inking a deal that will give him ownership of a neighboring parcel, presently home to Forest Park Foreign Car Repair.
“We are in negotiations, but we haven’t had anything finalized,” Tony Kaldis said. “It’s going to take a while to get all that finished.”
Last month Kaldis closed on the property at 7412 Harrison St. where the Pines Lobster and Steak House and the Oak Leaf Lounge are located. Kaldis spent $700,000 to acquire the site, according to Cook County records.
Forest Park Foreign Car Repair is owned by Vladimir Rejman, who has operated the car repair shop at 7400 Harrison St. since 1978. Rejman said that he and Kaldis have agreed on a price, but he declined to disclose the figure until a deal is finalized.
“We are waiting for the OK from the attorneys,” Rejman said. Three months of negotiations have led to this point, he said.
If the deal goes through, Rejman said he plans to move his business to another location, likely within Forest Park.
As for the future of the Harrison Street properties, Kaldis said he plans to build condominiums, but is yet to hire an architect. Those efforts are in the very early stages and he has not determined the number of condos he will propose to the village for construction.
“Hopefully in a couple months we’ll know a little bit better what the time frame is and what our plans are,” Kaldis said. “Right now we’re still in the beginning stages.”
Kaldis said he is planning to have a mixed use component to his development, as is called for by the village’s comprehensive plan. He estimated it might take as long as a year to get the project moving.
“It’s going to take us a little bit before we get this project off the ground,” Kaldis said. “We haven’t even started drawings on it.”
The property is located just across form the tennis courts at the Park District and is near the now vacant Roos building where 98 new town homes and condominiums are expected.
Kaldis is a former Forest Park resident but still owns property in the community. He is part of a group that owns the property at 7522 Madison St. where Zambonie’s, a sports bar, is located.
The future of the Pines restaurant remains unclear. Multiple phone calls to the restaurant in an effort to reach owner Rich Navratil were not returned.
Kaldis said he expects the Oak Leaf Lounge, also owned by Navratil, to remain open longer than the restaurant, though he, too, was not certain of Navratil’s plans for the businesses.
