Beverly Bank to open new bank on former village site in Oak Lawn

 

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Beverly Bank & Trust closed a deal on Jan. 7 to buy a parcel of land owned by Oak Lawn on 95^th Street between Raymond Avenue and 53^rd Street for $1.8 million.

Beverly Bank, which is part of the Wintrust financial group, will build a new bank at the site that will include space for a senior community center.

“We are planning a spring groundbreaking and anticipate opening in the fourth quarter,” said Mike Johnstone, CEO of Beverly Bank & Trust. Johnstone said a temporary facility will be erected on the site prior to the permanent structure being completed.

“We still have to go through the planning process with the village,” Johnstone said. “There are lots of moving pieces with a bank.”

Johnstone said the new building would be from 20,000 to 24,000 square feet.

“It will be modeled on our facility at 103^rd Street and Western Avenue,” he said.

Village officials said the project is expected to cost about $6 million and would create about 20 new jobs.

Tria Architecture Inc. of Burr Ridge is handling the design.

Johnstone said no name has been chosen but it will reflect the Oak Lawn community. Village officials called the new facility Oak Lawn Bank & Trust.

“We are all about the community,” Johnstone said. “We think the community will identify with us.”

Sanford-Brown Closing Tinley Campus

Career education Corp. is closing all three of its Chicago-area Sanford-Brown College campuses in Tinley Park, Hillside and Skokie.

The Tinley campus will be the first one to close in January 2014.

The company is closing 23 campuses as part of a massive restructuring that includes 900 job cuts.

The campuses have stopped accepting new students and will continue to operate until current students finish their degrees.

Fitness center opens in Orland

Anytime Fitness recently opened at 11025 W. 179^th St. in Orland Park. The co-ed gym, which is owned by Kenneth Howard, is staffed from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and on Sundays by appointment, but the facility is accessible by members 24 hours a day seven days a week.

For information, call 708-995-7581 or visit the website.

Middle Eastern restaurant opens in Bridgeview

A new restaurant called Yazor Kabob, which features Middle Eastern food, opened last month at 9052 S. Harlem Ave. in Bridgeview in the former Sheeba restaurant.

Chef Yonis Abdullah, who is one of three owners, said the restaurant specializes in what he called Jerusalem salad.

The menu also includes a variety of kabobs including lamb, beef, chicken and mushroom. Other entrees are lamb chops and steak as well as shawarma plates, which is similar to gyros.

Drinks include Middle Eastern favorites almond juice and Arabic tea.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. For information, call the restaurant at 708-599-0012.

If you see a new business in town or wonder what happened to an old favorite, drop me a line at bobbong@hotmail.com.

You can also catch up on Comings & Goings in other parts of the Southland at www.southlandbusinessnews.blogspot.com