In 2001, the village of Forest Park bought 11 acres of land surrounding the Altenheim senior housing building at 7824 Madison St. for $3.6 million. Since then, there have been 20-some years of conversations about what to do with the village-owned portion of the property.
Village commissioners, staff and dozens of residents once again discussed its future uses at a special meeting on Aug. 25. Decisions are not imminent.
Topics included where and when to build a bike path, whether to sell land to, or initiate a land swap with, the Altenheim, and next steps in asking for proposals from developers who want to build on the village’s section of the land.
The Altenheim currently owns the building, outlined in yellow, while the Village of Forest Park owns the land to the north, south and west of the building, outlined in green | Provided
Regarding the bike path, commissioners instructed staff to forgo the grant that the village got to build on the east side of the Altenheim property and apply again next year — allowing the village to construct the path on the west side instead and ideally providing more money than the current grant.
In 2020, the village was awarded a nearly $250,000 Invest in Cook grant to cover about half the cost to build a bike path, with the money required to be used by Dec. 31. Officials don’t see this as feasible since the village must enter into an easement agreement with ComEd — which needs to bury the power poles on the east side of the Altenheim property where the bike path would go.
The village has already invested $75,000 into the bike path project through an initial design proposal, and since some of the grant has been spent, the village isn’t authorized to redesign the path for the other side of the property with funds from the same grant.
“We do want to start seeing all these different paths connected. It’s really exciting to think Forest Park might have a trailhead in the near future,” Commissioner Jessica Voogd said. “I don’t want to abandon the idea of a bike path over there, but I do think on the east side, as proposed, at this point doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
Though Commissioner Ryan Nero wasn’t present at the meeting, Commissioners Maria Maxham and Michelle Melin-Rogovin agreed.
Commissioner Jessica Voogd at a special meeting on the Altenheim property on August 25, 2025 | Todd Bannor 
Commissioner Michelle Melin-Rogovin on August 25, 2025 | Todd Bannor
“We’re very invested in alternative sources of transportation and putting Forest Park on the map for biking in the community and connecting communities together, but we want to make sure we can cover more of the costs of the bike path and the trail head,” Melin-Rogovin said.
A Forest Park trailhead may be a real possibility in the next few years.
Ralph DiFebo, a Forest Park resident and member of the Illinois Prairie Path board who spoke during public comment at the council meeting following the Altenheim discussion, said that the prairie path is being extended in Forest Park within the next five years.
“You have the chance to be the trailhead for, not only for the Prairie Path, but also for the Des Plaines River Trail,” DiFebo said.
Whether or not a trail head is constructed, Steve Glinke, head of the village’s building department, said the village would need to engage with the Altenheim about moving the bike path to the west side.
This isn’t the first time the village and the Altenheim have discussed land use in the area.
Last summer, Altenheim officials proposed buying from the village 1.5 acres on the west side of the building as potential green space and 0.8 acres around the building’s south and west sides as a buffer for repairs to the building’s exterior.
At the Aug. 25 meeting about the Altenheim, commissioners directed staff to talk with the Altenheim about selling the 0.8-acre buffer, but not the 1.5-acre green space right now.
“We don’t know what kind of development is going to be happening yet, and I think that could still be very valuable to potential developers or green space or a bike path,” Voogd said of the 1.5-acre area in question.
She also asked if the buffer sell-back could be tweaked so that the village still has a connected path of access to its parcel north of the Altenheim and to Madison Street to the west.
Commissioner Maria on August 25, 2025 | Todd Bannor
“I would not be comfortable at this point selling Area B [the 1.5-acre space] because that could potentially be something that could be developable, and I would like to allow us more of a chance to think about what might go there,” Maxham said.
Melin-Rogovin also agreed that the village shouldn’t sell the 1.5-acre area, but that the 0.8-acre buffer area should be available to the Altenheim and seconded Voogd’s suggestion about redesigning it a bit.
Developing the Altenheim
Separate from the 1.5 acres on the south end of the property —where Village Administrator Rachell Entler was instructed to explore putting water reservoirs after a meeting to discuss the Altenheim’s land use in May — at the end of the recent meeting, commissioners discussed future development for the remainder of the village-owned land on the south side of the Altenheim building.
Village Administrator Rachell Entler shows a map of the Altenheim | Todd Bannor
Commissioners directed staff to start putting together a request for proposals (RFP), where developers share a potential plan for the space.
Mayor Rory Hoskins on August 25, 2025 | Todd Bannor
Mayor Rory Hoskins said that, in his six years in office, he has had a number of developers who are interested in the Altenheim approach him to discuss possible development there. He encouraged commissioners to explore an RFP, since it would help gauge what could be included in a mixed-use development without commitment to accept any proposals they get back.
In 2021, the village demolished five derelict buildings on the south side of its property at the Altenheim. The intergovernmental grant between the village and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, which helped pay for the demolition, states that the village “will prepare the site for a future mix-use that will consist of residential, commercial, and green space, to be paid via other funding sources.”
Village Attorney Nick Peppers said the village would need to check with the state to see if new development would need to include commercial, residential and green space.
Over the years, suggestions for this mixed-use space have included a YMCA, mini-Ravinia outdoor concert space, and a football field for Fenwick High School, according to Forest Park resident Leah Shapiro. She’s lived in the Residences at the Grove since they were built in 2006 and was one of four public commenters at the meeting.
The Grove resident Leah Shapiro speaks during public comment at a special meeting on August 25, 2025 | Todd Bannor
“Most people I know like the open space concept,” Schapiro said, adding that housing would provide necessary taxes for the village. “We’ve had many, many, many meetings like this . . . I just hope that we’ll come to some consensus about what’s going to happen at the Altenheim.”
During his public comment, Marty Tellalian, a former village commissioner, said the park district is in charge of village parks, and if green space is included at the property, that taxing body should be involved.
Thomas Kovac also shared his thoughts during public comment: “Moderate residential development would seem satisfactory, as well as a certain amount of land for public park space.”
Thomas Kovac speaks during public comment at a special meeting on August 25, 2025 | Todd Bannor 
Marty Tellalian speaks during public comment on August 25, 2025 | Todd Bannor
But not all commissioners agreed about what to put in the lot.
“My fear is, if we’re just putting some houses in there and a park in the middle, that really starts to feel like it’s for those houses. It doesn’t feel like it’s for the whole community,” Voogd said.
She added that her “pie in the sky” would be a mixed-use space with both private and public entities, like shops, possibly a theater or grocery store, and some housing. She said, if the bike path is constructed, there could be a small bike store. Or a new community center could be built there— “something that’s really curated to the community.”
“That is in direct conflict with the restricted covenants,” Glinke responded, meaning that the Altenheim has a say in potential uses of the land. “There’s a letter from their legal counsel stating that the Altenheim board is not interested in eliminating those [restricted covenants], but they are open to a discussion of something like a multi-family development.”
Rachell Entler, James Amelio, who is group lead at the village’s engineering consulting firm Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd. and Steve Glinke on August 25, 2025 | Todd Bannor
“I love the idea of a public market,” Maxham said, agreeing with Voogd. But she added that she doesn’t know if there’s a market for that, or if it makes sense financially for the village. “What I would like to see there, and what I think would be the best use for the space, is going to be residential” and green space.
“The other question is: Can we afford to do it at an R1 or R2 density?” Maxham added. “Because if we’re not bringing in enough money in property taxes over the long run, and all we’re counting on is the initial sale, maybe it’s not worth it.” She requested that RFPs include what developers think their suggested residential buildings would bring in property taxes to the village.
Whatever comes next for the village-owned Altenheim property, it won’t be a decision that’s reached any time soon.
“This is the very beginning of the process. So, I don’t want anyone to feel that, if direction is given in one way, we’ve made a decision on the Altenheim,” Entler said. “That couldn’t be further from the truth. There’s a process to getting there.”
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