Village hall wants Sertus Capital Partners to spruce up or knock down the one-story building at the corner of Lake and Forest.
“We’ve exchanged some correspondence, had some conversations, and as of today, I don’t think probably anyone in the community is satisfied with the response,” Village Manager Tom Barwin said last week.
Sertus owns the building at the corner, which once housed Certifiedland Grocers and the Original Pancake House, while the village owns the garage wrapped around it. Both sides are hoping to partner on building a possible hotel and a 488-space garage (see sidebar).
“The building is looking dilapidated, and it would be my preference if they could improve it some or tear it down and turn it into temporary parking,” said Trustee Colette Lueck. “I can’t speak for them, but it’s a significant corner in Oak Park, and it’s not inviting or appealing the way it is.”
Barwin said if the building isn’t spruced up or ripped down, Oak Park may need to look at citing the developer under the village’s vacant building ordinance, which was adopted last year. That would carry “hefty fines.” He also suggested addressing the upkeep of the property in a redevelopment agreement with Sertus.
The property owner already has done some work, such as removing old signs, frosting the windows, and replacing falling gutters, Barwin said. But village hall would like to see more done to make it presentable, such as fixing falling tiles, gutters in “disrepair” and litter collecting in the door wells.
“If this isn’t addressed at some point, Oak Parkers are going to begin to take how the property is being handled during this interim period as a signal of how our relationship might be in the future,” Barwin said. “This is a solid firm with a good reputation. They shouldn’t allow it to deteriorate because, when we go through this process, you need all the credibility, confidence and public support you can get. It’s a very important part of the review process.”
Michael Glazier, principal of Sertus, said the company wants to hold off on demolition until after reaching a redevelopment agreement, which officials say could happen in mid-May, and after the project is approved by the plan commission. He wants to keep the building to possibly generate income depending on what happens.
“You’ve got something to renovate, or sell to somebody,” Glazier said. “It’s just another option. Once you tear it down, that option is gone. You can argue that it doesn’t look good, but it’s structurally sound.”
Glazier said Sertus has bids out to do the teardown, and they’ve tried to comply with all the village’s requests to make the property presentable, including addressing vagrants getting into the building, but “I don’t think we’re going to be spending money to do anything one way or another until we have some direction.”