It’s been one of the hottest topics in town since it first appeared last year, prompting opposition rallies, hours-long meetings and, some would say, the jobs of two elected officials – but the Oak Park village board Monday approved a revised version of the 18-story high-rise by Albion Development in a 6-1 vote.
The tower, which will be built at the corner of Lake Street and Forest Avenue, was opposed by the Park District of Oak Park and a vocal, well organized citizens group. Opposition focused on expected impacts they say the development would have on nearby Austin Gardens. Albion will include 265 apartments, a 207-space parking garage and about 9,500 square feet of ground-level retail space.
The Oak Park Plan Commission rejected the developer’s original proposal in September, noting in its finding of fact that the tower “did not complement the character of the surrounding neighborhood due to the proposed structure’s height on the north side, including that the scale of the north wing of the building is incompatible with Austin Gardens to the north.”
The commission’s rejection of the proposal put the project in jeopardy because it required a supermajority vote of 5-2 from the Oak Park Board of Trustees to be overturned.
A last-minute design change suggested by trustees Deno Andrews and Dan Moroney altered the north side of the building to include a stepped design aimed at reducing the shade the building would cast on Austin Gardens.
“The idea of a stepped building has received a lot of interest from our architecture and development team as this has added a new element of architectural presence to the site,” Andrew Yule, Albion vice president of development wrote in a memo to the board. “The intent will include a building stepped down from Lake Street to the park to limit density, shadow, and wind on the north side of the site near the park which was a concern of the planning commission.”
The gambit worked, winning a 6-1 approval from the board – Trustee Simone Boutet was the sole no vote.
Yule told trustees at the meeting that Albion aims to break ground on the project in June 2018 and it is expected to take about two years to complete the tower.
The meeting drew a large audience of Albion opponents, many of whom yelled at trustees and Albion representatives throughout the meeting. The village board gave three advocates and three opponents for the project the chance to make their cases for and against the project.
Jan Arnold, executive director of the Park District of Oak Park, argued that the park district staff and the public did not have enough time to fully review the new design and that the project still would have negative impacts on the park and the 48 performances by Festival Theater during the summer. Arnold said the tower would reduce the level of enjoyment residents get out of the park “which cannot be replanted or redesigned.”
Cindy Summers, owner of Sugar Fixé Patisserie and president of Downtown Oak Park, told the board that she supports the project because it would be good for the local economy.
“I’ve already seen it with Vantage,” she said, of the 21-story luxury apartment building that stands across the street to the east from the proposed Albion building.
Trustees debated the proposal in the public meeting and explained their reasons for their votes.
Boutet motioned to have the revised project return to the Plan Commission for further consideration, arguing that trustees and the public were not given enough time to review the altered project, but her motion was defeated in a 6-1 vote. Boutet said she and the public want a development that “fits a little bit better into the community.”
Boutet, along with trustees Dan Moroney and Deno Andrews, were elected to the board earlier this year and all three campaigned on a platform that included opposing the Albion project.
At the Monday night meeting, just prior to casting their votes, Moroney and Andrews both acknowledged that they had reneged on a campaign promise. Andrews said he agreed with the Plan Commission’s findings-of-fact report rejecting the original proposal.
Andrews said he was “confident the project would do some damage to the park” but added that it would diversify the tax base and bring revenue into the village.
“It appears as if I’m flipping my vote; I don’t blame you for being angry, and I apologize,” he said before voting to approve the project.
Moroney said it was a hard decision, noting that constituents have called him “a liar, shady, sketchy and Trumpian” for changing his position on the proposal. He criticized his detractors, saying that the rhetoric was “uncalled for.”
“Have some respect, people,” he said.
Oak Park Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb, who ran unopposed in the recent election, said he has been “very predictable” in his support for such developments during his time in office.
“I know that I am not in love with high-rises; I am in love with the people of the Village of Oak Park,” he said, adding, “At the end of the day, I believe we have a project that is good for the Village of Oak Park.”
CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com