The Oak Park Plan Commission is recommending the village allow construction of a five-story, mixed-use building across from the Oak Park Avenue Green Line El stop at 717 South Blvd., but village trustees and the village’s mayor are worried about the project’s architect.
John Schiess served as architect and originally was the developer of the controversial Oak Park Oasis Townhome project, which he sold to another developer after getting the village to approve the necessary zoning changes.
The project was plagued with various stop-work orders – most notably for improperly installed sewer lines – and calls to the Oak Park Police Department by neighbors of the development when it was being built last year.
When the multiple stop-work orders delayed the project last April, Schiess said he had sold the townhouse development to B&B Development LLC.
“I have no control over the contractor or the developer,” Schiess said in April of 2016.
Schiess is now working with a new development company – 717 South Boulevard LLC, operated by Arthur Gurevich and Mark Boldun – on the new proposal, which similarly needs zoning variances to move forward.
The village’s zoning ordinance allows for a 45-foot-tall building with 10 units and requires 23 parking spaces. The developer is asking for variances to allow for a 60-foot-tall building with 14 units and 20 parking spaces, all of which must be approved by the board of trustees.
Oak Park Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb voiced his concern at the village board meeting on Feb. 21 about the Oasis project.
“In the past, we’ve had some developers or architects or business people who would come in and go through the process with the village and get the site approved to be built, and then they flip the property before they build it for somebody else who we have no relationship with and then problems take place,” Abu-Taleb said, adding that the Oasis project was a prime example.
“Some of the players in this particular project were involved with Oasis,” Abu-Taleb said, adding that although the townhouse development looks good now that it’s finished, “it was a nightmare to get done.”
Gurevich made his case before the board at the Tuesday night meeting, ensuring that he and partner Boldun would be involved in “every facet” of the development during construction.
But Abu-Taleb said he and the village board want assurances that the property will not be flipped.
“We can’t put residents through such a hassle without making sure the project is done in the way we agreed on,” Abu-Taleb told the developer.
Abu-Taleb directed village staff to determine the legality of adding language to the agreement requiring that if the development is sold prior to being built, the buyer would be required to follow plans agreed upon by the original developer.
Trustee Bob Tucker noted that under the proposed agreement on the South Boulevard project, the village would be alerted if the development is sold prior to construction. That didn’t happen when Oasis was sold, Tucker said.
He said that binding a purchaser to follow the direction of a previous developer could be “difficult for a number of legal reasons.”
Village staff are expected to return with a report in two weeks detailing the legality of such an agreement.
CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com