The Village of Oak Park | 123 Madison St.  Oak Park, IL 60302 | village@oak-park.us

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Site preparations begin at Lake & Westgate

Nov. 3, 2015 - Oak Park Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb was joined Tuesday morning by representatives of Clark Street Real Estate and Lennar Multifamily Communities in officially commemorating the start of the Village’s next major downtown development project – Oak Park Station.

The mixed-use development project planned for the properties, often referred to the Colt site, will bring about 270 luxury apartments, 26,000 square feet of retail space and a five-level parking garage with 400-plus spaces to the area just east of Harlem Avenue. (Click here to see the final presentation to the Plan Commission)

“I am pleased to see that work is now underway on this important project for our community,” said Mayor Abu-Taleb. “Attracting private investment to the community is a key responsibility of local government and my number one priority as mayor. Projects both large and small can go a long way toward easing the property tax burden on homeowners who do the heavy lifting for our tax base.”

Crews already have begun demolishing a portion of 1118 Westgate Street to the east of the main site and ComEd, Nicor and AT&T soon will be relocating services to clear the way for construction to begin. Final environmental testing also is expected to be completed within the month, which is the final hurdle to the project moving into high gear.

Full-scale construction activities for the project are anticipated to begin by mid-December, according to development officials. Substantial completion is envisioned for March 2017.

The main project site is bounded by Marion Street, Harlem Avenue, Lake Street and North Boulevard. Plans call for constructing a five-story building fronting Lake Street and a 20-story building facing North Boulevard. The two buildings would be connected by a pedestrian bridge over Westgate Street.

The public investment in the project will be about $7 million, which includes the value of the land, the public portion of the new garage and a new street that will connect Lake Street and North Boulevard. The project is expected to cost about $85 million. Once completed, it is projected to add about $25 million to the local property tax base.

Information on this and other development projects is posted on this website.