Some Oak Brook Village Board members are confident Restoration Hardware will still decide to build a freestanding store with a restaurant in the southeast end of the Oakbrook Center parking area.
The confidence comes despite the board’s rejection Tuesday of a request from mall management for a variance from the required 300-foot setback from 22nd Street to 40 feet.
After board members Asif Yusuf, Moin Saiyed and Michael Manzo, along with Village President Gopal Lalmalani, expressed concerns with the requested setback and asked about a compromise, Steve Rouman, senior vice president of real estate for Restoration Hardware, said the setback could be increased to 45 feet, but no more than that for the building the company wants to build. The store is planning for a three-level, 41,500 square foot building of two interior floors of retail and restaurant space with a rooftop outdoor dining area.
Yusuf and Saiyed both said early in the discussion Tuesday they would be comfortable with a setback of at least 62 feet from the edge of the property line, which is 15 feet from 22nd Street.
After more than an hour of comments and questions from village officials, residents and representatives of Restoration Hardware and Oakbrook Center, the Village Board was going to vote on whether it wanted to support the unanimous recommendation of the village’s Planned Development Commission to grant the setback.
However, Yusuf first made an amendment that the setback be increased by 10 feet to 50 feet, which was voted down by the board. He then made another amendment to increase the setback 8 feet to 48 feet, which passed by a 5-1 vote, with only Manzo, who said he would like a setback of at least 100 feet, not supporting it.
A visibly disappointed Rouman said outside the board room that the granted 48-foot setback won’t work and that for now, the deal is dead.
But Yusuf, Manzo and Saiyed don’t believe that will be the case.
“I’m confident, very confident, that they will be able to make it work,” Yusuf said after the board meeting ended. Saiyed agreed with Yusuf’s take.
“They could make it work with a 22-foot setback, let alone 8 or 10 feet,” Manzo said.
Lalmalani, who was opposed to the original setback request, and board member John Baar, who supported it, both wouldn’t speculate, but said they hoped Restoration Hardware would find a way to make the new building work with the additional 8 feet.
Along with Baar, board members Ed Tiesenga and Philip Cuevas both supported the original setback request.
Yusuf expressed concern that the requested setback could be problem if the state decides to widen 22nd Street in the future.
Restoration Hardware is a longtime tenant of Oakbrook Center and currently operates in a 12,000-square-foot storefront. Rouman said not being able to go ahead with the new, larger store most likely means the company would leave Oak Brook.
“It can only fit in certain places, and I think we’ve found the perfect spot for it,” he said of the proposed site.
Rouman said he previously looked into a spot at the former Macy’s Furniture Gallery, 1717 22nd St., just east of Costco. A new development with seven to 10 restaurants has been proposed for that site.
David Carlin, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Oak Brook Chamber of Commerce, said that organization strongly supported granting the setback so the new store could be built.
“The zoning, with the 300-foot setback, was established in 1962, and a lot has changed since then,” he said. “This is a prime example of when a zoning variance is justified. You should look at the present day.”
Carlin said the proposed Restoration Hardware would bring the village $350,000 in permit fees, generate about $100,000 a year in sales tax from the restaurant, bring in approximately 250,000 unique visitors a year and generate additional customers for nearby restaurants and businesses.
Four Oak Brook residents spoke during public comment, all of whom were in support of allowing the new building.
“I see a lot of asphalt; it seems to be a very dead area there, and I see very few cars there,” said Maggie Bennett, president of the Ginger Creek homeowner’s association.
Laura Bieselin, who said she grew up in Oak Brook and recently moved back, was impressed with what Restoration Hardware wants to build.
“The space is beautiful, it’s cutting edge,” she said. “I think it would be a true landmark.”