An LLC associated with the owner of Hawk Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Forest Park, 7911 Roosevelt Rd., bought the neighboring one-time Jerry Gleason Chevrolet site, 7901 Roosevelt, which has sat largely unused for over a decade.
According to county property records, the sale took place Aug. 25. That is when Tri-State Land Partners, an LLC associated with Hawk owner Joe Crane, took out a $7.18 million mortgage from Ally Bank. The LLC also paid off a $40,242 lien the Village of Forest Park had on the property. The village placed the lien on the site on June 3, 2016 due to unpaid water bills by the site’s previous owner, the Gleason family.
It isn’t currently clear what Crane plans to do with the site. When reached by e-mail, he told the Review that he was traveling, and wouldn’t be able to do an interview until after this issue’s print deadline. The Review reached out to Forest Park Village Administrator Moses Amidei, who asked that it contact Crane first.
The dealership at the northwest corner of Roosevelt Road and Desplaines Avenue wraps around the east and north sides of the current Hawk dealership. The purchase expands its footprint by nearly two thirds.
The dealership started as Gleason Chevrolet. The late Jerry Gleason owned it for decades before selling it to Auto Nation group. However, the land that the dealership was sitting on remained in the Gleason family.
In 2007, Currie Motors bought the Chevy dealership, but it moved the operations to 8401 Roosevelt Rd., where it previously had a Chrysler dealership. That move came after Currie was unable to get a rent reduction from Gleason’s stepdaughter, Maureen Joyce. While Currie toyed with moving back to the site in 2017, nothing ultimately came of it.
Hawk in Forest Park is part of Hawk Auto, which also includes multiple dealerships in Joliet and St. Charles, and a single dealership in Oak Lawn. Crane also co-owns the Golf Mill Ford dealership in northwest suburban Niles.
