Roosevelt Road may get a little bit of development help going forward in the form of two new Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts proposed Monday night to the Forest Park Village Council by Charles Biondo of financial consultants Kane, McKenna and Associates.
The districts will offer tax and financial incentives to developers who wish to build projects on the north and south sides of Roosevelt Road in two different zones from Hannah Avenue east to Harlem and from Hannah west to the edge of Forest Home Cemetery on the north, with a “donut-shaped” gap at the site of the Hawk Jeep dealership and just past Desplaines Avenue on the south end of the street. The “west” TIF will also extend north of Roosevelt Road on the west side of Desplaines in the industrial and commercially zoned areas south of Taylor Street.
Biondo, who formerly worked as village administrator of River Forest, said the TIFs would prime the area for development if the Army Reserve Center parcel at 7410 Roosevelt Rd., were it ever sold, and also include the U.S. post office bulk mailing center behind it.
Village Administrator Tim Gillian said at the meeting that grants were being prepared for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to acquire beautification funds for Roosevelt Road. Last year, Oak Park, Cicero and Berwyn cooperated in a three-village initiative to give Roosevelt Road a facelift. State and federal funds were used for the construction of bump-outs, planters, benches, slate sidewalk accents and decorative lighting.
