A timeline of existing and proposed high-rises in Oak Park, compiled by Christine Gawne Vernon:
1921 – An 8-story hotel proposed for the southeast corner of Erie and Oak Park Avenue at a time when the comprehensive plan limited height to 450 feet. Proponents tried to discredit opponents but opponents countered by publishing their own names in the paper. The proposed project was described as a “skyscraper” in the Oak Leaves Anniversary Issue, May 28, 1921, illustrating how the word “high-rise” is a relative term when talking about a residential neighborhood.
1959 – Village Manager Association (VMA) issues a resolution opposing high-rise apartments. The VMA was founded in 1952 and is credited with cleaning up local government at that time.
1970 – Changes made to Oak Park’s Comprehensive Plan. The village of Oak Park hires Gerwin Rohrbach’s firm from St. Louis to do Phase II of the Comprehensive Plan for approximately $69,000 for the next 18 months. (Aug. 23, 1970 Oak Park World)
1972 – Twin 55-story towers are designated to be built on a site owned by Jonas Stankus at the southeast corner of Forest and Lake (directly south of the Vantage building). Opposition to this proposal existed from the first and was led by the Oak Park Community Organization’s (OPCO) Paul Bloyd and Perry Hamilton. The Rohrbach plan called for a high-density corridor on Lake Street and for high-rises to be built there from Harlem to Austin. The height of buildings in that “high-density” corridor were based on the height of the tallest building on Lake Street, the Medical Arts Building, an Art Deco building by Roy Hotchkiss (a half block east of Oak Park Avenue). Called a “tower” when it was constructed, the Medical Arts Building was also described as follows: “This building represents the incursion into the suburbs of the skyscraper building types commonly associated with the dense downtown cores of metropolitan areas.” Although supported by the village board, the plan for twin 55-story towers failed to get the support needed to go forward.
1973 – 19-story Mills Park Tower, a lot-line to lot-line project at 1025 Pleasant Place proposed and planned for seniors, was completed in 1975. Adjacent to open green space for seniors at Mills Park, the tower has 198 Section 8 assisted units (apartments.com).
1975 – A 35-story high-rise is presented as a plan for Forest and Lake, the Stankus site. There had been a plan for one 55-story tower after the twin 55-story proposal failed. Then there was talk of twin 35-story towers. By 1975, the project was down to one 35-story tower.
1976 – The 35-story Stankus high-rise proposal receives the approval of the village board. According to Roy Cleveland of the state of Illinois Aeronautics Division, interviewed in the 1970s. The Stankus high-rise would be the tallest building in Illinois outside of Downtown Chicago and the State Capitol building in Springfield. This phase of the Stankus plan was called to a halt by the Department of Housing and Urban Development when HUD’s Environmental Impact Statement of the project, requested by concerned village residents, determined that the project would have an “adverse impact.” As a result of their findings, HUD denied funding for the project. OPCO arranged for a group of concerned citizens to meet with John Waner, Chicago Area Director of HUD in downtown Chicago. Stankus sued HUD for $15.9 million in damages and charged that Waner had “bowed to pressure from tower opponents.” HUD didn’t lose this suit.
1977 – The 20-story Twin Oak Towers is the next project proposed for the Forest and Lake site. In October 1977, Stankus sold the property to Cleveland partnership, Ernie Schwartz and Robert Hoffman and several other investors (Chicago Tribune, Nov. 13, 1977, Jack Houston, “Group seeks Oak Park OK on big towers”). Later, the village of Oak Park hired Real Estate Research Corporation for $3,000 to assess the Twin Oak Towers. They advised the buildings be built one tower at a time. Concerned-citizen opposition continued.
1987 – At 16-stories, an estimated 195.15 feet tall, and designed by Phillip Kupritz and Associates (emporis.com), 100 Forest Place finally rises after years of failed proposals on the Stankus site. The building there today is the result of years of citizen advocacy — negotiated by the village of Oak Park at the former Stankus site. For the first time, the building has setbacks, open space and townhouses that step down into the surrounding neighborhood on the west side, all features advocated by village residents.
1980 – The 14-story Heritage House, 201 Lake St., 200 units of Section 8 assisted housing, a lot-line to lot-line project with no provision for outdoor green space for senior residents, is built a block west of Stevenson Park.
1992 – The 13-story, Holly Court, now known as Brookdale Oak Park for seniors, is built at 1111 Ontario, a lot-line to lot-line project with no adequate provision for additional green space for senior residents. Private pay.
2005 – Changes are made to Oak Park’s Comprehensive Plan: The village of Oak Park hires a Portland, Oregon firm, Crandall Arambula, to revise the Comprehensive Plan for Oak Park at a cost of over $225,000 during an 18-month period. The plan calls for the demolition of 22 buildings in historic Downtown Oak Park without the consent of the building owners or village residents. The Crandall Arambula Plan is approved by the village board by a 6-1 vote, despite the fact that “three state agencies said the plan did not go far enough to preserve the historic character of Oak Park.” (Wednesday Journal, March 22, 2005) Many Oak Park citizens were outraged at the idea of demolishing 22 buildings, many historic, and opposed the Comprehensive Plan being determined by people/firms from parts of the U.S. with seemingly no perspective and awareness of, or respect for, the rich architectural history that constitutes Oak Park.
2008 – The 14-story, a 204-unit building at Harlem and Ontario (housing Trader Joe’s) is built. Now named Oak Park Place, previously named Oak Park Place Apartments and originally Whiteco, it is located at 479 N. Harlem. The building changed hands for the third time in 2016, acquired by a Canadian company that paid $68 million (Wednesday Journal, Aug. 11, 2016). Owners describe their building as a “luxury apartment building.” This lot-line to lot-line project, another development with no provision for green space, followed one of the most contentious development battles in Oak Park. Whiteco was the most highly-subsidized village project in Oak Park history. The architecture is characterized by many residents as “Soviet Bloc” style. To see a history of Whiteco costs to the village, see local businessman Paul Hamer’s detailed history of the project in Wednesday Journal (“The village’s cost of turning the keys over to Whiteco $20M?” Viewpoints, Jan. 25, 2005, http://bit.ly/1n8eg3).
2011 – The 8-story, mixed use, 1120 Club, formerly RSC & Associates, 1120 Lake St., opens. This financially troubled project also has no provision for open green space.
2015 – The Colt/Westgate Superblock Development Project, then known as Oak Park Station, a single building in two parts, one 5-story and the other 20-story, with 271 “luxury apartments,” each building being lot-line to lot-line, with the exception of a courtyard in the center of the Lake Street-Westgate part of the project, begins construction. Clark Street & Lennar Multifamily partner on the project.
Oak Park Station Development plans taking place now were approved by the village board last August. The original proposal, redone, resulted in “The $85 million, 20-story, 271-unit project, developed by Clark Street Real Estate and Lennar Multifamily, is under construction on what is known as the ‘Colt site’ on Lake Street east of Harlem Avenue.” (Chicago Tribune June 6, 2016). The project will include 26,000 square feet of retail space and a five-story parking garage with more than 400 parking spaces. “Construction crews have begun razing a building along Westgate Street to prepare for one of the largest developments in downtown Oak Park’s history.” (Chicago Tribune, Nov. 3, 2015)
The project includes “a 22,000-square-foot Target customized for urban and densely populated suburban areas.” (from the current village website, Lake & Westgate Project page where there is also an “Oak Park Station Animation” video). The project has recently been renamed “The Emerson.”
2015 – The 11-story South Boulevard & Harlem/Maple Avenues Development Project is approved by the village board with conditions. (“Trustees approve South Boulevard project,” WJ, March 7, 2015). No open green space for residents in this plan either.
“This project, a 250-unit, 11-story building developed by Lincoln Property Co. of Dallas, is expected to begin construction late this year or early next at Harlem and South Boulevard.” (Chicago Tribune June 6, 2016). Construction has not yet begun.
2016 – A 21-story rental building at 150 Forest Avenue is completed. “The proposed project at Lake and Forest by Sertus Capital Partners, ultimately became a $90 million, 21-story, 270-unit building developed by Golub & Co. and Wood Partners. It is now known as Vantage Oak Park” (Chicago Tribune June 6, 2016).
2017 – The most recent proposed project under consideration and up for public debate, is submitted to the village by Albion Residential. Eighteen stories tall, it would have 265 “luxury apartments.”