Arguments Against Albion: the mistake on Lake

At the end of the second Planning Commission meeting on July 27, five community members who are proponents of the Albion development spoke about how the building will benefit Oak Park. Their arguments were all economic. The realtor spoke about the full leasing of Marion & Lake St. businesses and a business group leader talked about how young, single workers from the Google and McDonald’s headquarters on the West Side of Chicago would live in the high rise. John Lynch, the (paid) head of the Oak Park Economic Development Corporation threatened us with the fact that “there is no other building” possible at the site and another businessman emphasized the projected $1m in tax revenue. Former trustee Collette Lueck finished by saying, essentially, that this project doesn’t have any architectural value and is going to harm Austin Gardens and change the character of downtown, but we need the money.

A week later, the citizens of Oak Park—lawyers, professors, businesspeople, architects, city planners, traffic experts, teachers, sustainability experts, and civil engineers—refuted every single one of these arguments with data and evidence and added a litany of arguments against the proposed development.

TAXES AND SCHOOLS

The economic assumptions that Albion touts were called into question. Albion estimates that property taxes from their development will be $815,000. But even if one takes that questionable number at face value, Albion adds about .4% to property tax revenues and adds about .8% to Village population (375 residents). Oak Park does not come out ahead. Similarly, the projected sales tax revenue will be offset by the extra cost of Village services to the new retail outlets.

Another tax analysis by a resident who is a city planner found that the amount of property taxes that will be generated by the proposed structure, may not be as significant as SB Friedman (who analyzed the Albion projection) suggests. In 2016, the Vantage building parcels were billed $351.K in taxes, and they have a significantly larger footprint than the Albion building. Albion’s tax estimate exceeds this by $578.K. Vantage was recently reassessed, but given they filed an appeal in 2016 and will likely appeal 2017, their final 2017 tax bill is yet to be determined.

Let’s consider the school districts. According to the Village’s Project Review Report, we can expect about 30 additional school-aged children. Districts 97 and 200 together would, by Albion’s figures, receive under $518,000. According to the Illinois Board of Education Report Card, the 2018 cost of educating those 30 students will be between $446,000 to $700,000, meaning anywhere from a trivial gain to a significant net loss to the Districts.

RENTS AND INCOME

Albion is a luxury apartment building, with rents starting at about $1700 for a studio. Albion used the median household income of $80,196 for households in Oak Park for their analysis. However, U.S. Census data says that the median income of non-family households is $43,547, and, given that the vast majority of the apartments are studios and one bedrooms, it’s more likely that single people would rent them. (The Census defines families as households with at least two individuals related by marriage, birth, or adoption. Individuals and unmarried couples would count as non-family households.) At that income level, the rents are unaffordable. Those who stretch to pay this rent would then have less disposable income to support the downtown businesses.

Another resident pointed out that many new apartment buildings surround the new Morgan el stop where the McDonald’s and Google headquarters are located, and that the West Loop and Randolph Street are arguably the hottest areas in Chicago for restaurant, living and entertainment options. Why would single people want to come to Oak Park and pay luxury rents when they could live there and walk to that scene? In addition, she pointed out that there are 46 apartments available of the 270 in the Vantage building, so it is only 84% rented, despite their claims of 95% occupancy. The Albion building will add another 265 units to the 241 from Emerson (the “Target” building), 263 from Lincoln (at Harlem & South) and 28 from the District House (“Tasty Dog” site). This increase in units is 20% above the population goals set by the Village. With 562 units coming up for sale or rent without the Albion building, plus a saturation in apartment buildings in Chicago, does it make sense to shove this building in now?

TRAFFIC AND PARKING

Traffic around this building is still a major concern. Again, Albion’s traffic projections use “Base Conditions,” (good weather, no work zone activity, good visibility, etc.) for their analysis. They did not do a Sensitivity Analysis, which asks what if their projections are wrong. We are already living with the poor planning choices from the Vantage building, where a restaurant was built without a loading bay big enough for the delivery trucks! Trucks park on Forest Ave. for up to two hours, creating a one-lane street and hazardous conditions for drivers and pedestrians. The Albion building will be built without setbacks, to the lot lines. Where will their delivery trucks for their restaurant and retail unload? The alley? That will interfere with pick-up and drop-off for the Park District’s preschool program, as well as with the pathway from their proposed “greenway” to Austin Gardens.

Albion is providing 235 private parking spaces for the 265 units, with the expectation that most people will not have a car because they will be taking the el. However, 37 of those spaces are for the businesses at 1010 Lake St. In addition, the parking consultant, KLOA, based their parking provision ratios on single stalls, instead of taking into account tandem spaces - where 126 spaces can only be assigned to 63 unique residences. The availability of parking spaces to individual residences is 51% during the day and 65% at night, both below the auto ownership of rental units within ¼ mile of a train station (0.70 vehicles). And this only takes into account resident ownership, not the parking need of guests or of visitors to the retail spaces.

AUSTIN GARDENS AND FESTIVAL THEATER

Although Albion is proposing a “greenway” between its building and 1010 Lake Street to compensate for some of the park green space that will be lost due to shading, discussions indicate that the main use of this space will be for outdoor seating for the restaurant on the main floor. In addition, there will be balconies facing Austin Gardens as well as an outdoor pool and terrace on the 5^th floor. Personnel from Festival Theater explained how the increased traffic and noise from Cooper’s Hawk at Vantage is already competing with their shows and expressed concern that the noise from these other amenities could spell the end of outdoor summer performances from the oldest outdoor Equity theater in the state of Illinois.

The Park District of Oak Park gave compelling testimony that the building would irreparably damage Austin Gardens. Their shade studies show that 35 trees would be affected, including 14 memorial trees (trees donated in memory of loved ones), in contrast to Albion’s estimate of 11 trees. Already, the Park District attributes the loss of five trees to increased wind from the Vantage building. Albion’s own wind studies show increased wind in the southeast corner of the park. In addition, the children’s garden, located right outside the preschool classroom, would have to be relocated somewhere else to receive adequate sunlight, thereby losing the accessibility that works so well for young children. The increased wind and shade would compromise the preschool as well, making the classroom site less desirable in the morning during fall, winter and spring. The native garden would also lose the sunshine necessary for the blooms that are habitat and food for endangered pollinators.

The award winning Austin Gardens Environmental Education Center was built after carefully considering the site with the shade from the Vantage building and a potential zoning-compliant eight-story building. Existing conditions allow for a net-zero energy designation with the solar panels and geothermal energy generation. If the Albion building is allowed, the solar panels will be compromised. The building was designed to show residents how energy efficiency can be achieved, so this would be a significant loss to the community.

CHARACTER of OAK PARK

Almost every private citizen who spoke at the Planning Commission meeting referenced the character of Oak Park. They cited the standards that the Albion development needs to meet from both the Greater Downtown Master Plan from 2005 and the Comprehensive Master Plan from 2014. There were compelling arguments that Albion has made only the weakest attempts to be good citizens of Oak Park, offering us a second-rate building with “public art” in a dark alleyway, one-time donations to community groups with little understanding of what makes Oak Park a unique and desirable community. It is our respect for our architectural heritage, the historical heritage, the natural heritage and the progressive heritage of our Village that makes Oak Park special. Each citizen emphasized that development is essential for our future but that development done incorrectly will be disastrous. Albion and the Oak Park Economic Development Corporation represent this deal as a binary choice: this building or nothing. There are other options. The residents of Oak Park are creative, smart and thoughtful people who understand that the decision on this development will inform the character of Oak Park for decades to come. Will we demand a building that is innovative, forward-thinking, environmentally sustainable and in scale to the rest of the downtown area, or will we live with “the mistake on Lake,” a dull, out of scale high-rise shoved into this important site?