The report came last week in the dailies that a developer, and one with Oak Park/Forest Park ties, has proposed building a 49-story, 523-foot condo tower in Evanston.
I had one reaction. That’s nuts. It is too tall. My second reaction was whether that was a height that virtually everyone in Oak Park?#34;regardless of political affiliation?#34;could agree was well out of bounds. I think we could agree.
The proposal is a joint venture that includes Focus Development which is known locally for its excellent and modestly peaked work at Lake Street and Euclid Avenue in Oak Park. Focus is currently finishing a fairly dense but not tall townhouse development on an old industrial property in Forest Park.
In Evanston, Focus and its partner are having success already with a 276-foot mixed use tower called Sherman Plaza.
For decades, Oak Park and Evanston have been compared and contrasted as affluent, distinctive inner ring suburbs. Oak Park has most often been on the losing side of the discussion as it is called “Evanston without the lake.” Now we are increasingly “Evanston without the skyline.”
And that’s OK with me.
