Oak Park trustees OK Bank of America

It was a close vote Monday night, but the Oak Park village board approved a proposal for a Bank of America branch in the Marshall Field building at the corner of Lake and Harlem.

The proposal needed board approval because the corner storefront at 1144 Lake St. is located in two special zoning districts, requiring a special-use permit and a variance from the village.

Businesses in the so-called transit-related retail overlay district must be retail oriented, mainly meaning retail shops and restaurants. 

The village’s Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved the proposal last month, but not without some concern over the chilling effect bank branches can have on shopping districts. Oak Park Economic Development Corporation Executive Director John Lynch said at that meeting that the OPEDC executive board declined to give a recommendation on the proposal because the board could not reach a consensus on the business use.

The village board also was split on the topic, but ultimately voted 4-2 in favor of the proposal, with Trustee Andrea Ott absent. 

Trustee Peter Barber, one of the dissenting votes along with Glenn Brewer, was the most outspoken critic of the proposal, saying he was more optimistic about the property’s potential to find a conforming tenant. 

The retail portion of the Marshall Field building has been vacant since 2011, when Borders Bookstore left the space. The village approved another nonconforming business in the north side of the building’s ground level earlier this year, allowing health insurance provider Harken Health the same variance and special-use permit.

Building owner Nicholas Karris has argued that the orientation of the building has made it nearly impossible to find a tenant and that if the proposal weren’t approved, it could be years before the space is filled.

But Barber said he believed new mixed-use developments going up downtown, and the new residents they will bring, would make the spot more appealing to conforming businesses.

“I really would rather not have a bank there,” Barber said Monday. “I know it’s been a challenge, but I prefer that the owners hang on and have something more appropriate for that location.”

Trustee Bob Tucker, who ultimately supported the proposal, also expressed some concern, calling the decision “a tough call.”

“I think we recognize that with the basement and the layout it’s a tough space,” he said.

Karris told trustees that waiting could postpone filling the space for two or three years. “If I had a great restaurant [for the space], I would do that today,” Karris said.

OPEDC’s Viktor Schrader told board members he’s been working with Karris for years to find a tenant for the space. He said that although trustees could wait for new residential tenants to arrive and possibly ignite new interest in the space, it also would have to compete with incoming retail space from the various mixed-use developments coming downtown.

Even then, “Nick [Karris] will have to wait to pick up the leftovers,” Schrader said.

Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb, a restaurateur who owns Oak Park’s Maya Del Sol, said he believed the location would be a tough spot for a restaurant. As the gateway to the downtown area the vacant space is an eyesore, he said.

He said the “space available” sign in the window “sticks in your face.” 

“It’s not good for Oak Park,” he said. 

CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com