Making clear the importance River Forest village officials place on a proposed Madison Street development project, trustees Feb. 9 approved a contract with Jasculca Terman of Chicago to perform strategic communications services related to the project.
In January officials announced the proposed development of a vacant village-owned parcel at 7620 W. Madison St. with a five-story, 72-unit mixed-use building. The development would feature high-end apartments and first-floor retail space, along with 87 parking spaces.
The communications contract, approved unanimously, will pay Jasculca Terman $10,000 per month through June 30 for a total of $60,000. Jasculca Terman has been working on the project since December. The firm was paid $3,688.13 for work that month. Expenses less than $20,000 do not require board approval.
The firm, headed by River Forest resident Rick Jasculca, previously provided similar services for the village’s Neighborhood Dialogues effort last year.
In an interview with Wednesday Journal, Jasculca said his firm’s goals include “robust communications” between residents and officials.
“We’re very much about engaging with the residents,” he said. “We’ve got three or four people working on the project. A lot of questions have been asked.”
He said communications to the public will be through the news media and social media, adding the effort “will evolve over the next four or five months.”
Jasculca said the major issues are traffic and parking but noted the developer would be undertaking a study of those issues.
In a memo to Matt Walsh, village administrator, Jessica Spencer, assistant village administrator, said staff members identified the need for “a comprehensive and coordinated communications strategy” for the project.
“Staff engaged in preliminary discussions with Rick Jasculca and his team at Jasculca Terman due to their demonstrated expertise in public-sector communications, community engagement and development-related messaging,” Spencer said in the memo. “The proposed agreement would allow staff to work collaboratively with Jasculca to proactively manage messaging, address community questions and support transparency throughout the project lifecycle.”
The scope of services includes strategic communication planning related to the project; support for project announcements and milestone communications, assistance with public input and engagement efforts; and communications support throughout the village review and approval processes.
While no agreements or approvals on a building project have been made, over the last year village officials considered seven development proposals, selecting two finalists before ultimately choosing Chicago-based Five Thirty-One Partners for the project. One of the firm’s principals is River Forest resident Viktor Jakovljevic.
To obtain community input, officials held three open houses, two of which ran for four hours with the third running two hours.
Spencer said “almost 100 residents” attended the open houses and more than 70 residents have submitted feedback and questions.
Some of the themes from residents include concerns about traffic on nearby streets; parking on the property for future tenants and guests of the commercial space; and the height of the building, she added.
Spencer said staff members are working with Jasculca Terman to address the questions with an updated FAQ which she said she hopes will be published by the end of the week.
In response to a question from Trustee Megan Keskitalo, Spencer said the rationale behind hiring Jasculca Terman was the firm’s previous experience with the village. Spencer also said Jasculca Terman’s social media efforts will not duplicate those of Vicarious Communications, which handles the village’s e-newsletters and other social media communications.
Officials stressed that no final agreements or approvals have taken place and that the proposal is preliminary and subject to change as they and developer discuss project details and gather public input and the project moves through the formal planned development process.
The property once housed a Lutheran nonprofit before the village purchased it in 2018 and demolished it in 2023. The village also purchased residential homes north of the east-west alleyway with an eye on the future. Once the buildings were purchased and demolished, the area was graded and currently has grass with wood-picket fencing.
