VILLAGE OF OAK PARK
Central Business District Master Plan

Click here for a closer look at the Oak Park Downtown Plan

The Lakota Group headed a team including S. B. Friedman & Company (SBFCo), DLK Architecture, and Metro Transportation, which prepared a master plan for the Central Business District (CBD) of Oak Park. The CBD encompassed downtown Oak Park, Oak Park Avenue, and the South Marion Street business districts. Completed in 1994, the plan emphasized creation of an attractive and functional retail and entertainment environment for the CBD=s extensive retail, office, and residential uses. The plan also included several transit improvement options. The CBD had evolved from being a primarily retail district to one where office, residential, and entertainment uses predominate. The portion of the area that was once a pedestrian mall had lagged behind the other areas in retail and restaurant development.

Lakota led the team in preparation of the development strategies and plans for the overall downtown and key sites. SBFCo’s work included surveying shoppers, businesspeople, commuters, and market-area residents to determine shopping patterns and how the CBD was used and viewed by these groups. A comprehensive land use inventory was prepared and analyzed to identify functional clusters of uses that had emerged, and a detailed retail market analysis was then prepared which identified potential new retail opportunities.

The conclusion drawn was that there was sufficient demand to fill the vacant retail space, but that current retail selling formats might detour that from occurring. It was recommended that the area build on its strengths as an urban commercial district rather than try to compete directly with strip shopping and power center formats. Recommendations focused on improving the ambiance through architectural improvements, major restructuring of street patterns, introducing additional "alleys" and convenience parking, and marketing to both retailers and consumers. Further retail, office and residential development were recommended for selected opportunity sites. Concept plans were prepared by Lakota for key opportunity sites, along with a streetscape palette and identification of 25 priority projects.

Results: Initial implementation actions included approval of a traffic plan and solicitation of developer proposals for several sites in the CBD. We provided to the Village a format for a developer RFP and identified possible developers. The Village-executed developer recruitment process resulted in the selection of The Taxman Corporation. A new commercial building has been completed at Lake and Harlem that is oriented toward urban-style shops with street frontages, including such national retail tenants as the Gap and Old Navy. Other retail and entertainment uses have been attracted as well. Retail rents elsewhere in the downtown have reportedly increased substantially since the completion of the plan, and ground floor vacancies have declined. The inter-modal facility combining both Metra and CTA stations has also been constructed since the completion of the master plan. The plan is still used as the touchstone to evaluate downtown projects.