You may see some updated storefronts around Forest Park soon.
Upon village council approval in a future meeting, facade improvements could soon be available to businesses within the village’s Tax Increment Financing Districts. Such updates could range from accessibility and energy conservation enhancements to upgrades of windows, doors, sidewalks, awnings and landscaping.
Forest Park has three TIF districts — two on Roosevelt Road and one spanning portions of Harlem and Circle Avenues. The creation of these TIF districts established a base value for properties in that area. As property value increases, property tax revenue beyond that base goes into the district’s TIF fund, which can be used to spur development and, ideally, further increase property value.
“TIF is great for economic development in the sense that you can use it to bring businesses to town, but we also want to be cognizant of the businesses that are already here,” said Village Administrator Rachell Entler. She added that, when new businesses come to town, their storefronts often aren’t of the same caliber as the surrounding existing businesses.
“You don’t want your businesses that have been here for a long time sitting dormant, not doing anything to improve the TIF in general,” Entler said. “This is a way for the village to utilize some of that TIF to invest back into the businesses that are currently here . . . enhancing the overall aesthetic of the commercial districts that they’re in.”
Entler said facade improvements will probably be sponsored by a matching grant from the TIF fund and are likely a new endeavor for Forest Park businesses.
“I’m not aware of a TIF facade program existing here in the village in the past,” Entler said, adding that neither she nor other village staff members could find any old paperwork to help guide the creation of relevant documents for businesses on Roosevelt, Harlem and Circle.
“Forest Park has been rightly criticized for Madison Street, Madison Street, Madison Street. Why not something on Roosevelt Road?” said Steve Glinke, director of the department of public health and safety. “It took a while, but it was always on the village’s radar.”
Business owners in the Roosevelt Road and Circle/Harlem TIF districts who are interested in facade improvements will be able to apply for them.
One such facade update could be Circle Lanes bowling alley, a family-owned business in Forest Park since 1941. Glinke said the bowling alley’s owners have asked him in the past about using TIF funds for “sidewalks and a little buff and polish,” Glinke said.
He added that Parky’s, which is also in the Circle/Harlem TIF district, might want to update its patio, though he hasn’t yet approached the business. Parky’s installed new benches and patched up pavement around its patio last year after a car crashed into the hot dog stand in 2023.
Glinke said that the old Blue Cab site on Roosevelt Road, which used to be a Wendy’s, is a part of a TIF district, too, and suggested that the property’s listing agent highlight that.
Though the village established the Roosevelt/Hannah TIF district in 2002, Entler said it will be expiring at the end of the year. The village had the option to extend the TIF district for another 12 years but chose not to.
“Based on what the area of the TIF covered, we felt like we got what we needed to out of it,” Entler said.
Village council TIF talk
At the Sept. 22 village council meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a resolution authorizing consulting services from Ryan LLC on potential development projects in Forest Park. Ryan LLC will help the village study and evaluate potential future projects.
Documentation provided by the village shows that consulting services will include financial analysis of various TIF redevelopment projects.
According to Entler and Glinke, Ryan LLC is assisting village staff as two business owners interested in investing in Forest Park take part in TIF negotiations. One business is rebuilding, and the other is new to the village.
