Trustees this week hired consultants to study two prime areas earmarked for commercial development.
HOK Planning Group will be paid $50,000 to update the village’s plan for its 191st Street corridor and work out some general appearance guidelines.
Valerie S. Kretchmer and Associates Inc. will be paid $32,500 to provide economic analyses of both 191st Street and the intersection of Wolf Road and U.S. Highway 30.
The company’s study would include demographics and the impacts of different types of development on the surrounding areas.
Mayor Joe Werner said the project would include a marketing plan.
Paul Gorte, community development director for the village, said a third commercial area–Mokena’s traditional downtown on Front Street–will also be studied, but that will be financed by grant funds.
The board has targeted the three areas as major opportunities for easing the tax burden in heavily residential Mokena by bringing in sales-tax-producing businesses.
Trustees said earlier this year that study results would help newly hired economic development coordinator Martin Lucas in his efforts to recruit more business development.
Trustee Joe Siwinski said he is pleased to see the first two studies focus on 191st Street and the Wolf Road intersection.
“I think these are the most important parts [of the village] for us economically,” he said.
The consultants will begin work within two or three weeks, Gorte said.