upgrades core infrastructure, and concentrates development around its transit assets. “We’re fully built out,” says Assistant Director of Community and Economic Development Paul Ruane. “Everything we do now involves reimagining what we already have—redeveloping properties, modernizing infrastructure, and creating new opportunities for residents and businesses.”That approach is shaping a new identity for Oak Forest as a transportationanchored destination where mixed-use projects, infrastructure renewal, and a strong sense of community are working in concert. A VIBRANT DOWNTOWN The focal point of the city’s vision lies at Cicero Avenue and 159th Street, where the Metra station anchors an emerging downtown district. Transit is the catalyst. By concentrating investment around the station area, Oak Forest has set the stage for a more walkable, lived-in center. The flagship mixed-use development at the core features 75 residential units and 15 rowhomes paired with active commercial frontage along Cicero. It transformed an underutilized block into a model of urban living that can support dining, services, and daily retail within steps of the train. Mayor Jim Hortsman is clear about the goal: densify the core, bring people close to amenities, and build a place where you can live, work, and walk to the station— rather than a downtown dominated by single-family lots. To make that possible, the city took a hands-on posture. It acquired blighted or unsafe properties, cleared long-standing liabilities, and worked directly with developers to return sites to the tax rolls in a stronger form. That strategy has already produced a second wave of momentum at Waverly Creek, a redevelopment just across from the station on the former Ace Hardware site. The project includes roughly 5,000 square feet of commercial space—two-thirds already committed to a Midwest Express Minute Clinic—and a readyto-market drive-thru bay suited to food, beverage, or service users. Contemporary townhomes round out the residential component. The developer, EM8 125 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 12 OAK FOREST, IL
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI5MjAx