Oak Forest Grows 2 Acres After City Annexes Kedvale Avenue Lot

OAK FOREST, IL — The City of Oak Forest became a little bit bigger after last week's city council meeting where officials voted to annex a piece of property already landlocked by Oak Forest establishments.

The 2-acre lot at 16426 South Kedvale Avenue became part of Oak Forest on Jan. 11. Previously, it was part of unincorporated Cook County meaning it was not governed by a municipality or anyone other than county officials.

The property is owned by the company that operates Legendary Baking, a wholesale pie and bread bakery. The group owns the building adjacent to the lot at 16425 South Kilbourn Avenue where they run industrial business from.

The new lot on Kedvale Avenue is also zoned for industrial use, but officials from the company did not immediately respond to Patch's questions on what the company has planned for the area.

"Basically what's in front of us today is the opportunity to get a property that's completely landlocked within our boundaries," said Oak Forest economic development director Paul Rune. "We'll be bringing in and helping out a business that is already here and starting to make improvements and future expansion and utilizing the rest of the property they purchased."

According to city records, Legendary Baking purchased both lots in 2017.

Rune told city aldermen the annexation was ideal since the lot can easily be changed over to city water systems due to proximity of the water tower and since the city's long-term goal for the area is to eventually change to all industrial facilities.

The property will likely fall under the 1st Ward, Alderman Laura Gray's area. Alderman Jim Emmet expressed concern at the meeting on how Legendary Baking employees would access the annexed lot in order to avoid disrupting the homes near Kedvale and Kilbourn avenues and was told the city would have increased control over the entryway plans as the property now falls within city lines.