While downtown Chicago has the feel of the start of what perhaps might maybe somehow could possibly be called a miniature residential construction boom, it’s not all the action happening in Chicagoland. Oak Park has several projects on the drawing boards these days which will introduce new residential towers to a suburb that has been kept remarkably low-rise in spite of its popularity.
One of those projects is called Oak Park Station (also sometimes known as the Westgate and Lake Project), designed by FitzGerald Associates. It’s a five-story mixed use building facing Lake Street tethered to a 20-story tower facing North Boulevard. They’re tied together by a pedestrian bridge spanning Westgate Street. It replaces a surface parking lot.
The development team hopes to break ground this fall and have people living there by fall of 2016, with a completion date in the spring of 2017.
The project has already gone through several public hearings, and VOP-TV, the village’s video channel, recently added the animation above to its YouTube page.
Thirsty for more? Here’s the firehose:
- Developer: Lennar
- Developer: Clark Street Development
- Architecture firm: FitzGerald Associates
- Westgate Street goes from being a through street to a cul-de-sac
- Portions of existing parking lots become newly minuted public street Maple Street
- Pedestrian bridge length: 77 feet, 10 inches
- Loading docks: 2, both off of Westgate Street
- Residential entrances: 3, two off of Westgate Street, one off of Maple Street
- Retail spaces: 7
- Lake Street building retail space: 23,139 square feet
- Lake Street building residences: 80
- North Boulevard building retail space: 2,000 square feet
- North Boulevard building parking spaces: 428
- North Boulevard building residences: 190