If you have ever visited Park Forest, or shopped at Old Orchard, Oakbrook Shopping Center, or Water Tower Place, then you are at least acquainted with the life of Philip Morris Klutznick even if you did not know his name. Athough he had roots in Kansas and Nebraska, Phil was an Illinoisan by choice who lived and worked primarily in Cook County for fifty-three years or well more than half of his long life. His innovative real estate development projects changed the face of the county and won him world-wide fame as a businessman and investor.
Phil Klutznick was born on July 9, 1907 in Kansas City, Missouri. He attended high school in Kansas City, one year at Kansas University (1924-1925) and one year at University of Nebraska (1925-1926). He received his LLB law degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska in the spring of 1929. He married Ethel Riekes on June 8, 1930 and the couple had one daughter and four sons.
In 1947, Klutznick's real estate development company purchased land about 30 miles south of Chicago along the Cook-Will County border for a planned community that was originally called "GI Town" with affordabe "starter" homes for young veterans and their families. Everything about the town was planned in advance including residential layouts, parks, shopping areas, police and fire protection plans and so forth.
In 1948 the marketing name of "GI Town" was replaced by the present name of Park Forest, Illinois. One interesting feature that was then new was the wide use of houses laid out around a cul de sac to that neighbors could partly face each other and parents could see neighborhood children in their front yards. That Park Forest layout has been copied in many villages around the world since. According to the village web site for Park Forest, the community has received many awards including two All America City Awards for its design.
"The community’s original master plan ensured convenient commercial centers, a child-safe curvilinear street system, a business and light industrial park and multiple, scattered school and recreational facilities."
"Park Forest’s first homes were multi-family rental units for the returning servicemen. Many of the early rentals were later converted to housing cooperatives but a large number remained rentals. Park Forest was recognized by The Chicago Sun-Times as a leader in affordable housing and by Chicago Magazine as a "great neighborhood."
During the early 1950s, thousands of small single-family "starter-homes" were built. Later, a third building surge saw the production of larger, two story homes, some with four or five bedrooms. But for nearly 40 years, Park Forest remained a somewhat transient community. Families who sought larger, move-up homes had to look elsewhere. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Village encouraged the development of larger housing in an attempt to round out its housing stock. Today, of the nearly 9,600 housing units, about 5,700 are single-family homes. Another 3,880 are multi-family units, of which almost 2,000 are cooperatives. In addition, scores of original starter homes have been enlarged over the years to fit the needs of today’s homeowners.
From its inception, Park Forest was one of the few communities without restrictive covenants. Although pioneer residents represented religious but not racial diversity, within ten years of incorporation, the Village began a Human Relations Commission, adopted a Fair Housing Ordinance and actively sought racial diversity. The Village did not follow the pattern so prevalent in Chicago’s neighborhoods and suburbs of white flight and racial resegregation. Today, Park Forest’s minority population (African-Americans, Asians and Hispanics) represents 47 per cent of the total. With more than 15 churches and synagogues and a 40-year commitment to fair housing, all ages, races and religious groups call Park Forest home.
"Park Forest’s greatest amenities are recreational, cultural and the high level of service provided by its local government. The 2,000 acres of parks, recreation facilities and open land in Park Forest are the largest per capita in Illinois. In addition to numerous playgrounds, ball fields, ice rinks and picnic facilities, the Village contains 26 tennis courts, two golf courses and one of the largest outdoor swimming complexes in the state. The Village’s pioneers planted trees in both parks and along the Village’s developing road system. The urban forest has now matured, along with the Village. Today, despite the challenge of maintenance, it provides an enormous asset to the Village."
Phil Klutznick was an international leader in Jewish affairs. From 1953 to 1959, he was International President of the B'nai B'rith organization, a group he had worked for in his youth. He was also a major figure in the World Jewish Congress.
In 1955, Phil and other investors developed the Old Orchard Shopping Mall in Skokie. It too was a new concept at the time. Concentrating a large number of stores in a satellite shopping center was not yet the norm in America in 1955. In 1959, the Klutznick group bought the land that became the Oakbrook Shopping Center in Oak Brook, Illinois on a model very similar to Old Orchard. Oakbrook Center (spelled as one word differently from the town) opened in 1962.
Even after his formal retirement as Chairman and CEO of Urban Investment and Development Company in 1972, Klutznick remained active in new ventures such as the building of Water Tower Place in Chicago. During President Carter's last year of office from 1980 to 1981, Phil Klutznick served in the Carter cabinet as Secretary of Commerce. It was his first and only tour of duty in full-time government service.
Mr. Klutznick died in Chicago on Aug. 14, 1999 at the age of 92. He had suffered from Alzheimer's disease the last few years of his life.
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