This coming Monday it is expected that the Oak Park Village Board will receive the development application for that other corner of Forest and Lake from the developers at Albion. The expectation is that the village board will refer the application to the Oak Park Plan Commission and then we’ll be off and running.
In anticipation of the coming drama, I talked Tuesday morning to two of the principal parties of this complex issue. Andrew Yule, vice president of development for Albion, and Jan Arnold, executive director of the Park District of Oak Park.
The most contentious aspect of the public debate so far has been Albion seeking a variance from the village to build at 18 stories on a parcel zoned for eight and then the debate over the potential impact of a taller project on the adjacent Austin Gardens.
A couple of months back, the park district board issued its full-throated opposition to the Albion project on the basis of the potential impact to the park caused by shadows thrown by the high-rise. And while Arnold was strong Tuesday in reinforcing that opposition to any building taller than 80 feet, both she and Yule talked about a series of ongoing conversations underway.
Yule has been making the rounds in Oak Park, talking to local business groups, but, frankly, it is talks between Albion and the park district that are most interesting. Yule described the conversations as “cordial and necessary.” And ongoing.
As he meets with individuals and groups, Yule is toting two fresh studies commissioned by Albion for the plan commission application and dealing with the two main rips against the project: Shade the building would throw on Austin Gardens and increased winds along Forest Avenue created by the high-rises.
Yule is the first to say that there are people who have already made up their minds to oppose the project and that he is unlikely to convince them otherwise. There are others, he says, who are open to seeing what he considers to be the scientific and factual basis for moving forward.
The Journal is posting Albion’s shade and wind studies at OakPark.com and I have to say they’re interesting. The shade study, looking month-by-month, hour-by-hour during the growing season, concludes that the southern third of Austin Gardens will pick up some additional shade if the Albion project is built as designed. But the impact is reported to be modest and limited to just the southeast corner of the park.
Arnold says she has yet to see that study. Once the formal application is submitted to the village and the specifics of Albion’s ask on height and building placement are finalized, Arnold said the parks will have their experts update an existing shade study. The turnaround on that will be 10 days.
Offering his take on conversations with the park district reps, Yule pointed to two constructive talks. Park officials have been concerned that the north side of an Albion project feels like the back of the building, facing the alley, rather than as the main view of it for anyone in Austin Gardens. Yule said that was a great point and that changes in brick quality and multiple ways to soften that front using greenery are being decided. Arnold said the parks do not want to see the sort of massive brick wall built on the north and east sides of the Vantage project.
Yule also said Albion and the park are working toward a six-figure escrow fund created by the developer that could be used specifically to improve or replace any trees or plants on the park’s south end that might be impacted by the shade.
Arnold leads every response by reiterating that the park board remains strongly opposed to any construction over 80 feet. But assessing the talks with Albion, Arnold says, “If the building is built taller than that, we want the environment to be as enjoyable as possible,” and later, “If it is built taller, we have the expectation that there should be funds set aside to restore and maintain the park.”
So the real discussion begins.
