What comes first — the interest from a developer in a site or ideas about what could be built there?
The River Forest village board debated what they called the chicken-and-egg question at their meeting Monday night during a discussion about what should be built on the former Hines Lumber site on Madison Street. Trustees decided to invite a couple of local developers to a future meeting of their Community and Economic Development Committee to ask what might prove a good fit for the Hines site and possibly the adjacent Public Works Department building.
Ideas suggested at the last committee meeting were a high-end grocery store and an assisted living facility, but Trustee Susan Conti told the board she would welcome more ideas for discussion.
Village President John Rigas said he liked the idea of a mixed-use building with residential and retail space — possibly a restaurant — which the village’s corridor plan calls for. But Rigas also said he doesn’t think the corridor plan is economically viable today because of the soft market.
He compared the problem at that site to the situation at Lake Street and Lathrop Avenue, where the village has $1.9 million in TIF funds to use for development before the end of next year. Conti said development there “is not moving forward at this point.”
In the case of the Hines property, she noted that Cook County has a 12-year tax abatement incentive that could be useful in marketing the property.
Trustee Cathy Adduci said the decision about what to do with the Hines site might be one of the most important the board will make, and she didn’t think the bad economy should put a damper on their ideas. Adduci suggested talking to Good Earth greenhouse and café next to the site about possibly connecting the two.
“Why not think bigger and broader for that space?” she asked.
Village Clerk Roma Colwell-Steinke said a grocery store there could service a lot of people who now have to go to either Lake Street or Roosevelt Road. But an increase in traffic flow there could anger residents, Rigas said.
Attracting any tenant, he added, would be difficult because of the site’s location in an industrial area and proximity to a cemetery and the Cook County Forest Preserves.
Trustee Colleen Horrigan said getting ideas from a developer would be a good first step before figuring out how to approach potential tenants.