Tinley Park Housing Renovation Program

It always interesting to look back over plans and programs that you developed to see what worked and what did not.  The Tinley Park Housing Renovation Plan worked well.  


The plan supported the continual improvement and expansion of homes in the older neighborhoods near the train stations. The photos below show some of the successes.

Typical older homes - small frame homes

Adding a front porch is a nice improvement.

Dormer windows on the second floor improve the home.

A home with a partial second story addition.

New or substantially expanded homes. 

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The Plan developed in 1998 was part of the Comprehensive Plan

Tinley Park Housing Renovation Program

The housing quality in Tinley Park is excellent.  Attractive new housing is under construction.  Existing neighborhoods are well maintained. Some of the older housing stock, however, is showing its age, and will require substantial improvements over the next years.  In many of the older neighborhoods near Oak Park Avenue, residents leave to move to larger homes, which could eventually lead to housing quality problems in these areas. 

The Village gains when citizens expand and improve their existing homes in the Village.  The Village's real estate tax base improves, and the additional investment in home expansion can stimulate investment by other homeowners.  Some of this type of development has been taking place, but the rate and quality of this type of development could be improved with an aggressive Village effort. 

The Village should implement the following programs to increase investment in homes:


▸ Establish a public relations campaign to induce homeowners to expand or otherwise improve their homes in the Village.  Honors, awards and recognitions should be a part of this program.

▸ Solicit a University architectural program to develop a large number of designs to expand Tinley Park homes into larger, more energy efficient designs.  An example of this is expanding a standard ranch home into a two-story home, or renovating in historic context while improving the home. 


▸ Solicit previously developed plans for the expansion of older homes by local architects.


▸ Develop before and after photos of expanded homes.


▸ Develop before and after models of homes for display in the Village Hall and commercial centers.  A school architecture class might assist in this project. 

▸ Work with local lenders to develop an attractive financing package.  Consider Village participation in a loan pool to reduce interest costs.  


▸ Consider waiving or reducing building permit fees for expansions and improvements of existing housing.  


▸ Study existing zoning codes to determine if variations in setbacks are feasible to accommodate home expansions without normal variance procedures.


These efforts can guide development in Tinley Park and induce extensive reinvestment in older sections of the Village.

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November 11, 1997




Fm: Craig Hullinger AICP Assistant VM
To: Dave Dorgan Village Manager


Sub: Existing Housing Improvement Plan

Attached is a one page proposal to improve housing in the older part of town.  Some of this is happening now, but a concerted program could increase the rate and quality of housing improvement.


Resource Option Cost / Impact


1. Do Nothing. Cheapest, least productive


2. Side job for Hullinger/Goebig 2nd Cheapest, least productive.


3. Ask for Architectural Student help Cheap, more bang for buck.


4. Hire part time planner. More expensive, more productive.


5. Consultant Too expensive.


We chose option 2. It worked well. At the same time the Village also embarked on a substantial improvements of downtown, which encouraged and supported improvements in the adjacent residential area where these photos were taken.