The Oak Park Village Board has approved a deal for Lincoln Property Company to develop an 11-story mixed-use building on two village-owned lots at South Boulevard and Harlem Avenue.
“We’re as excited, I think, as the village is about the conclusion of this redevelopment agreement,” said John Hedges, director of the Oak Park Economic Development Corporation, at the Village Board meeting Feb. 18. He recommended Lincoln over the four other proposals submitted to the village last year for the site.
Located at the southeast corner of Harlem and South, the new building will contain roughly 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, 250 luxury rental apartments and a parking garage that can accommodate 450 cars, according to the development agreement approved by the Village Board on Wednesday.
Lincoln, which advertises itself as the largest private luxury rental developer in the U.S., estimates its cost to build the project will be between $10 million and $48 million. The contract approved Wednesday also requires Lincoln to pay the village $1,100,000 for site, streetscape, utility improvements and other related costs.
Oak Park also agreed to reduce or waive all village building fees on the project, a subsidy worth about $311,709.
The project also includes five units being advertised as affordable housing. The contract stipulates Lincoln must market five one-bedroom units in the building for $70 per month less than the full price for five years.
At a meeting last year Lincoln Development Manager Joe Segobiano told the Village Board he expected to charge $1,600 per month for one-bedroom units, according to that meeting’s minutes. The affordable units will be available to residents earning at or below $58,400 annually, provided that they meet the Lincoln’s leasing criteria, with preference given to Oak Park residents. Additionally, a total of $1,056,000 (less the total amount of village fees) will be donated by Lincoln to Oak Park for the officials to use as they see fit for affordable housing initiatives within the village.
Trustee Glenn Brewer was concerned with the price for parking in the project’s garage, which would not be controlled by the village. His fear was that Lincoln would charge considerably less for parking than village-controlled parking facilities nearby.
Tammie Grossman, Oak Park’s director for development customer services, said it was an unlikely scenario, as Lincoln will have to stay competitive with the village’s prices in order to pay off the project’s overall cost. Village Manager Cara Pavlicek added that since Oak Park wasn’t giving Lincoln any money to build the garage, they weren’t going to force village mandated parking rates on the developer. Trustee Brewer believed competition was a good thing, but was afraid the deal was setting precedent for future deals the village makes.
Village President Anan Abu-Taleb said he expected Lincoln would work with the village because they’re “in for the long run.”
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The board unanimously approved the development deal. Construction is expected to start this spring and take 17 months, according to a project timeline.