I'd say a strip mall but the available spots bump right against residents. A couple of those businesses at Chicago Ridge Commons, like Office Depot or Michael's, would do well here. Also, imagine the additional revenue the Village and State could garner from that red light camera!

First off , have anyone really looked into what the real problem on Southwest Highway store front's are why they are empty? Because the price to rent one is so high small businesses like myself can not afford it, even if you ask another business owner to go in with you and share the premises. I tell you make the rent affordable and you will get more people there. But it is all about the mighty dollar, not the fact that you business growth is not happening... Trust me Oak Lawn should look into these landlords and see just what I am talking about.

I agree with anonymous. The rent is so high in Oak Lawn a small business cannot survive here. I say the village and and the property owners come together to help the small business owners stay in Oak Lawn. It would be a win, win situation and the village would not look so bad visually.

Southwest Highway has struggled for years. It looks terrible & could really use a re-vamp!! Not sure what would thrive there. Chicago Ridge Mall is tough competition, but I believe with the right incentives, S.W. Hwy can thrive.

It would be nice to see some *local* businesses locate here, but if rent is such that only national chains can afford it, then be prepared for more cheap shoe stores, mediocre fast food, and payday loans. Oak Lawn needs to aim higher.

With this much available space, I would love to see an "Oak Lawn Entertainment District" that would include some great ethnic restaurants, non-Sbux coffee houses, venues for live music, dancing, and theatre.

One can dream.

Sadly, the high rents are a reflection of the high taxes the owners must pay. Taxes on SW Hwy are a fraction of 95th St. The cost of doing business in Cook County puts quite a few out of business. Taxes are crazy high for commercial property.

There's still plenty that can be done. Shopping local and supporting these small businesses will go a long way. If everyone commits to this, the business climate would thrive and we'd again enjoy many mom and pop establishments that give our community local flavor.

If you were going to invest your life's savings in a business start up, would you move where nothing is updated and there's little pride of ownership shown? Would you want to rent from someone who has let everything go?

There is plenty that can be done. The question is are people willing to roll up their sleeves and work together to find a solution? It would be great if the trustees would get more involved in the local business organizations and get a plan of attack.

the reason the rent is high, mostly because of property tax.

Patch, perhaps take a look at the southeast corner of 103rd St. and Central Ave, which was once filled with businesses but now only a laundromat and men's haircut place survive. The liquor/deli is gone, tanning place, tax prep, nail place, middle-east grocery, music shop, physical therapy - all gone. And since Senese's restaurant and Barrel of Laughs closed 3 years ago, this corner is looking horrible. Wasn't the landlord to remove the giant Senese's signs by now? Isn't there at least some minimal upkeep of the parking lot/landscape required, so the property doesn't look so desolate?
I see Dunkin Donuts is opening in the old space occupied by Buscemi's fast food restaurant. I really hope they make a success of it.
Conversely the strip mall on the northwest corner is completely occupied - what gives?

My husband and I joke that the location that previously was the 99 Grill and Bar is cursed. How many places have opened there and closed within a year? Too many to count! Also, there's a photo of the Seal-Tite roofing business. I've often thought that the place looks really run down...and it's a trustee who owns it! If a trustee can't even keep his business looking nice...I wonder how much luck Oak Lawn will have revitalizing the area.

Wendy, I was going to ask if Mr. Streit owned that building. I thought that was the case, as he used to operate that little toy or model shop too. BBB, I think Senese's closed of their own volition and the current landlord decided not to renew the convenience store and Buscemi's. I could be wrong but I think I read that in a local paper. It appears with the facade update that they are trying to fill it back up now, anyway. It never occurred to me that the rents would be high, as crappy as those buildings look. I really think stores there could give Chi Ridge Commons a run for its money, that's often an inconvenient trip during busy evening and weekend shopping times. (I guess more business would back up SW Hwy, though, and left-turners could really muck things up.)

Remember also that about 2-3 years ago the OL inspector found numerous health and safety violations at the little store owned by a Middle Eastern gent. The citations, possibly rigged and concocted, caused quite a stir. If they were based in fact, it wouldn't have reflected well for the units there, either.

It could be modeled after Oak Park, LaGrange or even Sheffield Ave., in Chicago. A few shrubs, bushes cobblestones… pedestrian friendly, dog friendly, etc… Of course lower rents would bring in the business that might be the only feasible solution.

I would love a sandwich shop and a small grocery store. I know residents would love places that they could walk to and take the kids. Rito's in Hometown would be a great model for our area.

Three more Walgreen's, 6 banks (Any kinds. They'll all keep changing their names once a month, anyway), Some generic fast food restaurants pushing so-so pizza, tacos, and/or hamburgers, and just to bring something new, fresh, and innovative into the area, a combination 'We Buy Gold, Payday Loans, and Auto Title Loans', all under one roof!!!
And if there's still a few places left, a couple little ethnic grocery stores (I'd like to see an Asian one, because I do a lot of authentic Chinese cooking. Right now, I go to the Oriental Sunrise at 104th & Cicero, which is nice, but rather small.), and a cutesy little craft shop that you feel bad about when you see it open because you know it's not going to make it.

A lot of the posters here seem to know a lot about the rent and about the taxes. I am totally ignorant of that aspect of it.
How much ARE the rents and taxes, generally speaking, and how much less are they for comparable businesses that are located in Chicago Ridge?

There are not enough places to shop in Oak Lawn so people go where they can find a variety of stores in the same area, and taxes are to high. I go to Crestwood, Chicago Ridge, Tinley and Orland and even Bridgeview. There are only a few GOOD places to eat so that is another minus. I don't do much in Oak Lawn except live here and pay high taxes for nothing.
TK

In real estate parlance, the properties in question on Southwest Hwy. in Oak Lawn are functionally obsolete. Functional obsolescence is defined as a reduction in the usefulness or desirability of an object because of an outdated design feature, usually one that cannot be easily changed.

These small store fronts don't have much appeal today. People either go to an attractive mall with all its amenities or they shop online. Parking is also problematic on Southwest Hwy.

Plus, Southwest Hwy is an angle street. There is an old theory that businesses have a hard time on angle streets. The rationale is that people use angle streets to get places, but they don't patronize angle street businesses that much for some reason.

I don't have an answer. Functional obsolescence is what it is. There is no cure. But green space would be an improvement over this blight. Get out the bulldozer.

Taxes high - everywhere signs of decay - no attention to properties that are seemingly abandoned and rotting. People need to make notes, take pictures, notify the mayor and "trust"ees - someone in government needs to take action, seize properties or enforce codes and make property owners responsible for upkeep (fines, city doing upkeep and billing owners, forcing sale of unkempt properties at auction?..etc). It is almost as if they are unaware (our "leaders") - maybe lots of emails with documentation and appearances at meetings by the public would shake them out of their ivory towers and have them really see how the community is going down.

Central and 103rd - right by the schools, a thriving strip mall on next corner. It is a blight on the community and could make new businesses question being in the community of Oak Lawn.

I think the Village needs to step in and come up with a plan for Southwest Highway. There really needs to be some major unified streetscaping from 95th Street to Ridgeland. The area looks run down. New trees and lighting would really improve the gloominess of the area.

Boutiques and high-end shops are not going to work because, frankly, south side shoppers are not interested in that and will not spend big-money in these businesses. Oak Lawn and its surrounding towns/villages are blue-collar communities. They are not downtown Chicago, Evanston or Glencoe.

In my business, I’ve worked north side and south side and there is a difference in lifestyle and how much these sides are willing to spend.

Why so many unoccupied stores? Certainly the economy can be partially blamed, but the way business is conducted has changed drastically over the years. Internet shopping has reduced the need for storefronts, box stores have knocked mom and pop stores out and computers have enabled many employees to work at home, eliminating the need for office space.

Yes, rents are high, but so are taxes, insurance, etc, etc..

So unfortunately, empty stores may be with us for some time. And there probably isn’t a workable answer at this time.

And to those who look to the government for help, I think it could be argued that Oak Lawn’s current trustees are not qualified to make financial or decisions of any importance for their community. Their education and work backgrounds do not suggest that they should understand the matters that come before them to make intelligent, informed decisions.

When I moved into the 3rd district over 10 years ago and Bob Streit was going door to door talking to residents, my husband and I expressed our opinions that Southwest HIghway looked like "crap." We were told by Streit at the time that the village had plans in place to make Southwest Highway a "medical row," where there would be doctors' offices, etc, etc. Well obviously THAT didn't happen. Now the village is fighting with Advocate to expand Christ and SW Highway still looks like crap! The buildings are falling apart, the facades look awful. It took 3 years to remove unsafe buildings from SW Highway and Melvina! 3 YEARS!!! When a local podiatrist wanted to renovate the old Town of Lakes furniture store, the village would not work with him. Now his office is in Chicago Ridge and what they did with that building is amazing. It is horribly pathetic that a nice, middle class suburb like Oak Lawn has areas that look like slums, and SW HIghway is that area. How many times can that strip mall that has ReMax in it remodel the building? No one is moving into it. Is it because of rent.....probably. But something has to give here in Oak Lawn! I don't have the answer, I wish I did. It is just truly a shame!

There may not be an esy solution for this section of SW Hwy. I agree with previous commenters that the storefronts are not very well maintained, they are undersized for many retail options, lots of retail competition from Chicago Ridge Mall, parking is insufficient and, oh yeah, the economy is still pretty aweful.

The only thing that I ask is that the Village of Oak Lawn NOT spend any tax dollars on any "upgrades" until they finish the project that they started at 111th & Cicero. The Village has already sunk money into that project, which in my opinion stands a better chance of financial success and viability than this SW Hwy corridor

I hope we're not paying the utilities on the 111th & Cicero property as many times when I drive by the lights are on lighting almost the Whole parking lot sometimes in the daylight hours!! When it was rented they only had a few on!!
103rd & Central..went there a couple times in last 5 years..felt like I was down at Lake & Cicero..Clientelle looked like they were waiting to rob you!! No one ever made these people move on and customers felt threatened and stopped going there to shop!!
Southwest Highway?? Until they knock down half of the vacancies to make parking spaces, there is no reason to even try to open a business along there! If your customers have No Parking Spaces, they will Not come!!
As far as complaining about a problem with neighbors and maintaining their property, the Village drags both feet and very seldom resolves the issue!! I still have a copy of my first email complaint on a private residence from 2004!! My complaint is still valid, the village agrees, has fined the owner numerous times! Who Cares, the problem still exists 8 Years Later!!!!

SWHwy is just not a very good commercial strip in a down economical time. I think the people on Archer would disagree about angled streets not working, and Vincennes does well enough where it has commercial, as does State Road, even.
SWHwy is just a strip in a place between more traveled roads without a lot of people that will shop RIGHT THERE. The Mall (which Oak Lawn could have had) and 95th Street have enough empty space of their own, and they have far more traffic on them.
The rents are probably too high and probably because of the taxes or they turned over during the boom, like so much residential, and with the down economy, people cannot afford the mortgages on those properties. Residential rentals are doing VERY well (from the landlord perspective) now, but commercial is much more hit or miss, both with the location, as well as with the business venture itself.
When jobs come back, more money, more residents, more demand...simple to say, clearly not easy to make happen.

SWH is crappy looking. 103rd and Central looks like the middle east and 95th and Cicero looks ghetto. Well, at least we know what type of people are moving to Oak Lawn nowadays.

The village leaders needs to see Oak Lawn in human, interactive terms. Urban blight is cumulative and self-reinforcing: blighted buildings cast a pall on land around them, discourage upkeep, and stifle renewal. Whatever slows renewal of one site slows the neighborhood in a vicious, downward spiral.Start by leveling unkempt properties, entice new building through incentives, as old business moves into new buildings, tear their old buildings down and develop those properties. As blight pushes away business, renewal attracts business.

Location location location is only true if the property is not loaded with run down buildings. Tear the obsolete down and develop the land into vibrant and community appropriate businesses.

Oak lawn is going straight to hell burglarys store closures higher mortgage and tax rate when the house value isn't even worth it. Get out of cook county while you still can, if you can...

I really appreciate Patch starting this discussion. Small business concerns are barely on the radar in Village Hall. It's truly a lost opportunity and Oak Lawn deserves better. It seems that unless you’re a multi-billion dollar corporation, you just don’t matter. This is wrong.

Again, if people shop local and support small businesses it would go a long way to making Oak Lawn vibrant. Your dollar is your vote. Vote/spend where it supports your own community. If Oak Lawn spent 1/3 of its estimated $1.3 billion income locally, every store front would be full.

I wish every person out of work could be empowered have the confidence in themselves and their dreams and consider a business start up. A small storefront with low overhead could be a dream come true if someone has the passion, vision and is not afraid of the hard work.

so i guess no one wants multi cultural fusion comfort food ... didnt think so

First of all we need to get rid of all Cook County and state of Illinois crooked politicians. Get new people so they could work with small businesses, tax accordingly, not overtax, and you will see how many small Ma and Pa businesses survive. I think the biggest burden on small business is the tax and rent. Also many seniors and people on fixed income can not afford to shop in a small store where the prices are slightly higher than a big store. I am one of the people, and now it is worse for me since my property taxes went up $1300.00 on my last tax bill. I do a lot of shopping at Continental Sales on 63-rd and Cicero, their prices are very low, and I just wish that Continental Sales would open a store here in Oak Lawn so I dont have to drive that far. Continental Sales is always crowded, prices are low and their employees are very friendly, and I have never experienced any overcharges on items like at other stores.

Hey isn't it refreshing to have vibrant comments from real people instead of the usual comments under fake identities from Heilmann and crew? Funny they have nothing to say about this.

It is really sad that the only trustee with a business in Oak Lawn has done so little to improve business in his own district and the location where his own business is. A leader should set the tone for the area. I guess in this case he does, but in a negative way. No positive message about Oak Lawn there!

I'd like a really, really good hot dog joint!!!!

I went to the dry cleaner on SW Hwy (can't remember the name of it!) before it closed suddenly due to an illness of the owner. I hope everything turned out okay for her and that she is in recovery. I wouldn't mind another dry cleaner to open as it is a convenient location for me.

Wendy: open a dry cleaner.
Wendy: open your tai restaurant
Sheldon: open a hot dog stand
Sandra: Close your big mouth
The point is that you all have the answers but none of you are willing to take the risk that a businessman must take to make a successful business. Do you know why nobody will open a tai restaurant on SW Highway? Because it is too big of a risk unless Wendy is huge. A hot dog stand has to compete with a lot of other fast food choices and can't generate the customer base off cut through traffic. A dry cleaner? That's hardly an original idea!

As for Sandra, blah, blah, blah. Put your money where your mouth is and propose a plan sandy. If Heilmann spends tax money you'll crucify him if he lets business develop on it own you'll say he should do more. He can't win with you because you want the job

LOLOL!!!!! I thought the topic was 'What Should Go Here?'

I didn't see the part that where it said that opening the business myself was required in order to express my opinion!!!

I'm Disabled and on a tight, fixed income. I wonder how I'm going to go about opening a hot dog stand??!
I've got to tell you, URALLcrazy. I don't think I'm going to be able to swing it!!

Besides, I don't want 'just' a hot dog stand!!!! As I stated but which I guess you chose to ignore, I said I want a 'really, really good hot dog joint'!!!!

Something that would gain a reputation like Fat Johnnie's on Western Avenue had!!! People would come from other areas for something like that!!!!

As to Wendy, is it okay with you if when she opens her restaurant, she spells 'Thai' correctly?
You think it won't do too well as it is. Misspelling it as 'Tai' is NOT going to help to draw customers in!! I'd be afraid I wasn't going to be served authentic Thai food if they couldn't even spell it!!!

Well, you're pretty good when it comes to shooting down other people's opinions and doing it in an insulting manner, to boot!!

LOL!!! It's always amusing when someone angrily criticizes other people's ideas, while they themselves have nothing worthwhile to contribute to the conversation!!

Dr. Bury has contributed to the community for years and did an excellent job of taking a run down building on 95th St. and turning it into a state of the art office/medical business. I am glad that people are posting suggestions and comments- maybe they will trickle to the OL leaders and jump start something for this blighted stretch of roadway- pretty sure that's why the article was originally printed. URALLcrazy- seems like you don't have anything to contribute and just take pleasure in taking shots at those who are at least willing to speak up. Keep up the posts everyone- nice to see that we have citizens interested in bettering OL!

I hope the Village does not encourage more condominiums. At least we were able to force them to scale back the number last time. We need to recognize that we are NOT a high end suburb. Pretending we are and trying to attract high end business is a big mistake. We need many more moderately priced restaurants, entertainment venues and specialty stores. The Village has many older residents who moved here with young children in the 60s and now will be going to nursing homes, retirement communities or trying to make it on their own during the next ten years. With the economy they cannot afford high prices. We need to encourage the younger generation to help them maintain their homes and encourage the older generation to share homes when they lose their spouse. Until Illinois removes funding schools with property taxes, property taxes in poor suburbs and moderately priced suburbs will be so high that there will be NO business able to afford to stay in a poor neighborhood and very few who want to start up in a moderately priced neighborhood like ours. A few years back when I ran for the school board I analyzed the property situation and found that a $200,000 home in Oak Lawn that paid $3000 property taxes per year would have a tax bill in Harvey of $9,000 and in Zion or Skokie of $1,000. Residents pay more if businesses cannot afford to rent in the neighborhood. So there is not much we can do until the legislature changes the way schools are funded.

Another kooky doctor!!!!

High rents are the problem. The rents are high because most leases are triple net. This means when taxes go higher so do the rents. Keep the lid on taxes and the problem will correct itself.

I wonder if the ecomonic woes of the last 4 years have pushed things to a point where Village officials are just happy to get anyone to open something here? The New D-Lux is a case in point, not much of a step above the other crime scene. (That's the establishment Mr. Streit welcomed "with open arms".) The lack of creativity on the part of those in charge of attracting businesses here is really kind of appalling. That hoary old corporate saying "think outside the box" applies during tough times. Calling in big developers to put up 9 story office buildings doesn't correspond with that.

SW Hwy from 95th to the bridge is just plain nasty, and creativity and vision is going to be required of Village officials to make anything of it. I wonder if Mr. Deetjen, Oak Lawn Village Manager, has put any time or thought into bringing up that area.

A news release from February said that Whole Foods confirms that it's going to open a store in Orland Park, in the fall of 2012.
If that comes to be, no way will they bother to open another one in Oak Lawn.

If they have since scuttled the plans to open in Orland Park, same result. If Orland Park isn't good enough for them, one sniff of Oak Lawn will be enough to convince them to keep on moving right along.
This place is getting so tacky and run down, it doesn't even rate as being 'shabby chic' any more.

Folks, we are not alone. The older suburbs, particularly those
built in the 1950s and 1960s, no longer attract a lot of new development or new
residents. These older places are located very close to the city, and exhibit the very symptoms of decline that US cities experienced decades ago.The continued outward suburban expansion is coupled with the simultaneous decline of older suburbs located near the city.I feel that our best chance is focusing on making Oak Lawn a more vibrant, livable, people-friendly community.The village should be creating strategically located pockets of density that I think are required for innovation and productivity. This could provide our troubled village with the fix that it so desperately needs.I have a place in Waukesha that we will eventually retire to, it is located in their down town area. A vibrant alive densely populated area with every thing in walking distance.They also tap into the college community, artists, medical facilities,cross generational and family activities.We have these same elements around us yet they seem to be disjointed, separated. Lets explore what other communities in the same situations have done to revive their self's.

"I have a place in Waukesha that we will eventually retire to, it is located in their down town area. A vibrant alive densely populated area with every thing in walking distance.They also tap into the college community, artists, medical facilities,cross generational and family activities.We have these same elements around us yet they seem to be disjointed, separated. Lets explore what other communities in the same situations have done to revive their self's."

I think that's a very good idea, Ron Williams!!!!

Was Waukesha ever in the state Oak Lawn is in and did they manage to change it into what it is today? If so, what steps did they take!?!

If Waukesha isn't a good example, do you know of some areas that were floundering but then found ways to better their neighborhoods!!!?

Modeling Oak Lawn after suburbs that are improving rather than heading in the opposite direction might be a great way to go!!!!

Sigh. I suppose if the taxes were ridiculously low, businesses would move into Oak Lawn.
But at least part of the reason that businesses aren't rushing into Oak Lawn is that there IS no 'need' of this kind of store or that kind of store.

Every place you can think of that you need to go can either be found close-by or is 'high end' enough that it has NO interest in opening in this modest an area.

Since this thread has started, I've had occasion to drive down the section of Southwest Highway a couple of times.

Wow. It's really trashy. It looks hopeless. If I wanted to open a business, I wouldn't want to do it there just on looks alone!!!!
It's hardly the type of location that draws people in.
It's depressingly crappy looking.

Too bad the space is defined as it is. That makes a Walmart out of the question -- and that's about the only kind of place that would fit in with how the rest of the place looks.
It wouldn't make it look any more low class and shabby. It would just fit right in.

I really think a DQ(dairy queen) or a sonic would really do well in this location.They are always running ad's for their burgers or hot dogs at great prices.or if not either of these two the an el pollo loco they have the greatest fryed chicken ever..

Thomas E Nelson

7:42 pm on Saturday, September 22, 2012

I really think a DQ(dairy queen) or a sonic would really do well in this location.They are always running ad's for their burgers or hot dogs at great prices.or if not either of these two then an el pollo loco they have the greatest fryed chicken ever..