Forest Park spans nearly two-and-a-half square miles. But with most of the village covered by cemeteries, homes or businesses, there’s little room for new development in town.
As Forest Park navigates a $15 million deficit, property taxes from new development are one sure-fire way to bring in more money for the village. But there are only so many spots where developers could build.
“Right now, the only two are Suburban Lumber and the Altenheim,” Steve Glinke, head of the village’s building department, told the Review. “Those are the only two of any consequence,” he added, when it comes to new builds.
But a new business is coming to Forest Park that’s likely to further develop a property.
Andy’s Frozen Custard, 7737 Roosevelt Rd.
Andy’s Frozen Custard may be coming to Roosevelt Road, possibly as soon as spring 2028. The property used to be McGaffer’s Saloon, which has been closed since the end of 2024 and announced last March it would not reopen.
On Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. in the lower level of Village Hall, Andy’s Frozen Custard will attend a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting to seek conditional use for a drive thru restaurant and to consolidate the plat of land the bar was on with surface lots to the east and west of the building.
“It’s a big catch for Roosevelt Road,” Glinke said of Andy’s. He added that up to 26,000 cars travel down the street every day. “That’s a good traffic count. That’s one of the things they’re looking for.”
Suburban Lumber, 7459 Franklin St.
Earlier this year, Chicago Suburban Lumber Sales announced it would be closing operations after 80 years in Forest Park.
Since the family trust that owns the property put it on the market, the village has created a new Tax Increment Financing district in the area — with the goal to attract a residential developer to buy the property that was once Suburban Lumber.
When a new TIF district is created, the property tax value of a defined area is frozen. As property value increases with development, that money is diverted into a fund that helps pay for the development within the TIF district.
“In discussions with the broker [for Suburban Lumber], staff has made it crystal clear that the highest and best use — and frankly, the best cost per square foot — for the trust is going to be in residential redevelopment,” Glinke said at an August public hearing for the new Franklin-Brown TIF. “We cannot prevent the seller from selling to another industrial user, but we’ve made it crystal clear, both [Village Administrator] Rachell [Entler] and myself, that the TIF is off the table for an industrial user.”
Glinke told the Review in October that there’s no guarantee the Suburban Lumber property will be residential, but that he’s heard that multiple developers are interested in the property.
The Altenheim
For 25 years, the Village of Forest Park has owned 11 acres of land surrounding the Altenheim senior living building. In August, Village Administrator Rachell Entler declared the village council would start holding monthly meetings to discuss future development on the property. There was no September meeting, and Entler was on leave last month.
Also in August, the village council approved for its engineering consultant to design two underground water reservoirs on the southeast corner of the village-owned land. They will store potable water for the village after the reservoir beneath the Howard Mohr Community Center has been deteriorating.
The covenants that the Altenheim senior living home has given Forest Park restrict development on village-owned property to R1 or R2 housing, or low- and medium-density residential structures. That includes single-family and two-family dwellings, townhomes and publicly owned parks and playgrounds.
“The highest tax-producing use would be multifamily back there, but if it becomes difficult to get in and out of, it’s hard to market property like that. So we should sit down and give serious consideration to building within the restricted covenants,” Glinke told the Review.
He added that access into and out of the property is also a barrier to development.
“There’s two ways in, but only one way out. Surface traffic on Madison had become so congested at peak — morning rush and evening rush,” Glinke said. “People block the intersection, so existing residents have trouble getting in and out,” and there will only be more cars with a new residential development.
“We have to start doing something productive about addressing this structural development,” Glinke said. “I think we could find a developer very quickly, but I don’t have hopes until after the election.”
All village council positions are up for reelection in April.
Moran’s Garage, 7505 Randolph
At the corner of Randolph and Des Plaines sits an empty property that was once Moran’s Garage.
In 2023, a new owner bought the Moran’s Garage property in a scavenger tax sale. Glinke said the owner had plans to open a muffler shop, but that the property isn’t zoned for that.
Glinke said he’s gotten interest in the property that he’s passed onto the owner and that the property has received multiple maintenance citations because of its physical state.
“It’s ripe for repurposing,” Glinke said. “It should be repurposed.”
109 and 123 Harlem Ave.
Glinke didn’t mention two side parcels at 109 N. Harlem Ave. and 123 Harlem Ave. The addresses are currently the site of ATI Physical Therapy and the former Mr. Beef & Pizza building, which was slated to open last summer as a business that sells cannabis-infused food, but has yet to open.
The combined site has been eyed for residential or mixed-use development for over a decade. ATI sits on a large parcel with an overabundance of parking from when it was a Blockbuster video store.