Condo-retail Project Planned for Oak Park

By Eddie Baeb

(Crain’s) — A Chicago developer is planning a $30-million condominium and retail project in downtown Oak Park.
The western suburb on Wednesday announced an agreement where it would give land it owns at Harlem Avenue and South Boulevard to Morningside Equities Group Inc. The village also is to contribute about $1.9 million for a new parking garage on the site.

The proposed eight-story development, which has been dubbed Chelsea Station and would be located next to a CTA el train station, is to include 96 condos, 12,500 square feet of retail space and a parking garage that will have 245 public spaces plus additional spaces reserved for residents.

“This property . . . is ideally situated for a transit-oriented development such as this,” Village President David Pope said in a statement. The deal is a “strong indication of the attractiveness of this Oak Park location and of the increasing vibrancy of our downtown.”

A Morningside executive didn’t return a call seeking comment.

Negotiations with Morningside began in October 2006, after the village’s request for proposals on the site. The village earlier acquired the property for about $3 million to help provide transit-oriented public parking.