When you think of the CTA’s Blue Line, most think of the end of the line — O’Hare International Airport. But travel to the other end of the line and you’ll find a better real estate value — Forest Park.
It’s a village of about 15,500 residents whom one town official called “very loyal.” They’re augmented by home shoppers who have “discovered” the town after suffering sticker shock in neighboring Oak Park.
Now, developers have also discovered the draw of this near west suburb with excellent access to public transportation, via the CTA and Metra, and also the Eisenhower Expressway.
Forest Park may not have the cachet of Oak Park and River Forest, but it doesn’t have eye-popping price tags, either. The average price of a single-family home was $253,259 in Forest Park in 2004, up 3 percent from $247,073 in 2003, according to the Chicago Association of Realtors. That compares with $435,933 in Oak Park, which saw a 21 percent jump from $361,293. Not that Forest Park is in an appreciation backwater: Over five years, prices in the suburb have more than doubled,.
The housing market “is strong and lively,” said Catherine Deam, an agent with Gloor Realty in Oak Park. “It’s very family-friendly because there still are sensibly priced homes there. You can get started in the upper $200,000s” and the taxes are moderate, too, she adds.
She and partner Patricia Bizzone, an artist and longtime rehabber, redid a three-bedroom, two-bath bungalow at 1026 Marengo for resale. It was listed at $347,000 and is now under contract.
A recent Internet check showed only 17 houses listed in Forest Park with at least three bedrooms and two baths. They were priced from $209,500 to $455,000.
Despite the village’s strengths, many families leave when their kids finish middle school.
“One of the issues for Forest Park has been that people are not pleased with the local public high school district,” said Nancy Hill, village community development director. “The district [209] has recognized that and is trying to make some changes to make it attractive.”
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Enter Proviso Central Math and Science Academy, which will open this fall at Roosevelt Road and 1st Avenue.
The school offers “a viable opportunity for those who want a higher standard,” said Village Clerk Joan White.
“Good schools always add value,” said Tim Anderson, president of Focus Development Inc., which built Forest Park’s sold-out Madison Commons condo and retail project on Madison Street in a joint venture with Taxman Corp. The magnet high school is “just going to help make Forest Park more attractive for housing.”
Focus and Taxman have also teamed up to build the Residences at the Grove on a 6-acre former industrial site just a hop, skip and a jump from the Blue Line terminus.
The development will have 140 condos and 60 town homes. Prices start in the $330,000s for the town homes. One-bedroom condos will start in the $170,000s and two-bedrooms at $249,900, Anderson said.
“People have discovered Forest Park because they want to have some of the amenities of an urban area,” Hill said, describing the concept as “big city access with small town charm.”
“Our residents are incredibly loyal,” she said.
One of is Toni Khatib, who wrote to us to point out that “really great things have happened to this town.”
But Khatib has her house up for sale. She cited the high schools as a reason to move, though she said and her husband may stay if a good offer doesn’t come their way, and then try to get their children into the new magnet high school.
She pointed to the spirit of the community where she has lived for 20 years. Residents raised $10,000 to build a dog park, and it attracts people from all over, she said.
Buyers must share Khatib’s enthusiasm. The average time on the market for houses last year was 48 days, up only 5 days from 43 in 2003.
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Wayne Faulkner is editor of Real Estate. You can contact him at [email protected] or write to him at baiduhai, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611.