W E D N E S D A Y
March 19, 2025 Vol. 45, No. 37
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JOURNAL @oakpark
of Oak Park and River Forest
Education Guide Page 25
Mohr Concrete site in foreclosure No village hall cost estimates before election
Oak Park should consider buying property, says Scaman By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter
Real estate developers’ vision for a hotel and apartment complex at the old Mohr Concrete site looks to be in doubt. Hinsdale-based real estate company KrohVan purchased the former H.J. Mohr & Sons Co. concrete site in June of 2022 with high hopes for the land, but a still-undeveloped 3.29 acer parcel of land is now in foreclosure. The future of what once looked to be a promising opportunity for development in a village where space is hard to come will now play out in court. Meanwhile, Vicki Scaman, Oak Park village president, said, in response to a reporter’s question, that the village should consider purchasing the site in order to control its development. Scaman said the site still has great potential for development, but that concepts like an apartment complex or hotel don’t fit the neighborhood. “I think that you don’t see the small business district around that area of our community that would support that level of density,” she said. “That’s why the numbers have never worked for any developer. You See MOHR CONCRETE on page 10
Discussion pulled from board agenda By BRENDAN HEFFERNAN Staff Reporter
PROVIDED BY H.J. MOHR & SONS
UP IN THE AIR: What’s next for the industrial site at Harlem and Garfield is uncertain. But we’ll always remember the Santa Claus at the top of the hopper at Mohr Concrete. Growing Community Media’s
Oak Park’s village board won’t get the chance to weigh in on one of Oak Park’s hottest topics until after the municipal election. The village board will not review an updated plan for the construction project that will move the Oak Park Police Department into a new building and make updates to Village Hall until a special session sometime next month. The discussion had long been scheduled for Tuesday, March 18’s board meeting, the body’s final meeting before voters head to the polls. See VILLAGE HALL on page 19
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