On March 15, the Oak Park, Ill., Village Board of Trustees formally approved the agreement that will enable Sertus Capital Partners LLC of Chicago to move forward on plans to build a new $85-million hotel/retail/condo/parking building in the heart of this Chicago suburb.

Rendering courtesy of Village of Oak Park, Ill.

Bird's Eye View Looking Southwest

The 20-story glass tower at the corner of Lake Street and Forest Avenue would be the tallest building in Oak Park. Monday�s agreement gives the developers about four months to demolish the building it owns at the location, 18 months to begin construction and 18 more to complete the building. It also gives them two years to find financing.

The development will include a 140-room hotel, 85 condos, 2,500 sq ft of meeting space, two stories of retail space, a public sky lounge and a 510-stall parking garage.

Oak Park will contribute $9.8 million to build 300 of the parking garage�s 510 stalls. Those 300 stalls will be for public parking needed in the area, and will replace stalls lost when the current aging garage is taken down to make room for the new development.

The village will also contribute $250,000 each of the first two years the project�s hotel is in operation, as an incentive for the developers to include it in the development.

Although some Oak Park residents have opposed building the tall building at the proposed location, the village trustees support the project for the $2.5 million of taxes it is expected to generate each year.

Sertus� proposal projects that the hotel, alone, would generate $8.9 million in room revenue and $2.8 million in food and beverage revenue per year, resulting in $285,000 in local taxes. The hotel is also projected to provide 105 full-time jobs.