The village of Oak Park is close to ridding itself of another property — this time at the corner of Chicago Avenue and Austin Boulevard — and the potential future owner plans to put in a fast-food restaurant within the next few months.
Co-owner Bhagyesh K. Patel and his brother, Ilesh H. Patel, were given approval by the Oak Park Village Board of Trustees to purchase the building that runs from 2 to 10 Chicago Ave.
Bhagyesh Patel said his company, Rica LLC, aims to purchase the mixed-use building for $425,000. All they need now is a bank loan that he expects will be approved in the next few weeks.
Patel said Rica LLC owns seven Subway sandwich shops in and around Chicago and his uncle owns 35 Dunkin’ Donut franchises, but those aren’t the only two restaurants he is considering for the long-vacant corner store in the struggling business district. Whatever is chosen for the location, Patel said he hopes to have it up and running in the next 3-6 months.
The other tenants of the two-story building — Jamaican Grill, a satellite office for Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, and two residential tenants upstairs — are likely to stay for the time being.
Oak Park Village Manager Cara Pavlicek noted at the village board meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 19, that the village purchased the building in 1985 for $117,000, then spent over $1 million fixing the Chicago Avenue streetscape in the mid-2000s, and in 2006 put together a plan with developers to demolish much of the block and replace it with a mixed-use residential housing development. That plan fell apart after the financial collapse of 2008.
The Oak Park Economic Development Corporation, which handles business development in the village, issued a request for proposals last year, and Rica LLC was the only response.
“We’re excited about having some life on that corner,” John Lynch, executive director of the OPEDC, told trustees at the board meeting. “We think it will be great for the village and great as a gateway in that space.”
Patel said he plans to renovate the building by installing new windows and doors; eventually, they’d like to redo the façade of the building.
He noted that two of the ground-level storefronts — the State’s Attorney’s office and the Jamaican Grill — have two front doors entering the same establishment. The rehab of the building could entail combining or subdividing those storefronts.
“We want to remodel the building in a year or two,” Patel said. “We want to make it look really nice.”
The village and Patel also are working out a plan to continue sharing the 33-space parking lot behind the building used by nearby residents.
CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com