Redevelopment coming to downtown business districts

Sept. 5, 2014 - New projects are under development throughout the community, but the downtown area will be especially active. Parking and traffic will be affected as these and other projects get underway. Here’s an overview of what to expect…

• Lake & Forest Construction of a 21-story mixed-use building at the high-profile corner of Lake Street and Forest Avenue is poised to begin. The development will include 270 rental apartments, 25,000 square feet of ground-level retail and an integrated garage with 588 parking spaces. Demolition of the aging public parking garage currently on the site is the first step in the project. Once the site is cleared, construction is expected to take about 18 months to complete. Parking permit holders, visitors, shoppers and employees who used the Lake & Forest Garage have been directed to the Holley Court Garage a few blocks to the west of the project and accessible from both Marion and Ontario streets. The Avenue Garage east of Oak Park Avenue at North Boulevard also is a nearby parking option. A Village-sponsored valet parking service is available directly across the street from the old garage site. Meanwhile, the east-west alley between Lake Street and Austin Gardens across the street from the project currently is being rebuilt as a part of the Village's green alley program. The alley is scheduled to be completed in early October.
• Lake Street Colt Site Project A mixed-use residential, retail and parking project featuring two new buildings has been proposed for the Village-owned site where surface parking lots now sit between Lake Street and North Boulevard just east of Harlem Avenue. Plans call for constructing a six-story building fronting Lake Street and an 11-story building facing North Boulevard. The two buildings would be connected by a pedestrian bridge over Westgate Street. Combined, the buildings would include about 26,000 square feet of new retail space, 248 apartments and a five-level parking garage. Pending Plan Commission review, construction could begin in the spring of 2015, with the first retail tenants opening in the fall or winter of 2016.
• South Boulevard & Harlem Avenue Negotiations are underway with a company chosen through a competitive bid to redevelop the Village-owned property on South Boulevard, east of Harlem Avenue. Preliminary plans are for a mixed-use structure with about 250 residential units, 10,000 square feet of retail space and parking for about 150 vehicles. The project also will include five affordable units and a pedestrian walkway on what is now Maple Avenue, as the structure would span the street to connect two property parcels. While details are still being negotiated, and Plan Commission review required, construction could begin as early as the spring of 2015.
• South Boulevard Streetscape With the help of a federal grant, the Village is planning to extend the Marion Street palette west on South Boulevard from Marion to Harlem Avenue. In addition to the much-needed underground infrastructure improvements, the Marion Street Gateway Project includes enhancing pedestrian and cyclist access with wider sidewalks, shorter intersection crosswalk distances, improved lighting and public seating. The project also will more effectively connect and integrate the multimodal public transportation station with the downtown area. The project is scheduled to begin in late summer 2015 and be completed by early spring 2016.

Updates on these projects will be posted on this website as they become available. For more information on redevelopment in Oak Park email development@oak-park.us.