Your Visions for Vacancies: An Update

Every once in a while, we post a photo of a vacant building somewhere in the area and invite you to comment on what you'd like to see take over the space.

Some of you dream big; Others are practical. Either way, it's a good way to get a sense of the community's wishes. And we think it's time for an update. Here's a progress report on some of the recent posts to our "Visions for Vacancies" series, which and still taking comments.

Nope. Still vacant, still looking for tenants.

The trendy boutique shuttered earlier this summer. Still vacant, far as we know.

Leased! The space that once housed the beleaguered bakery will be taken over by a new, independent computer repair store called Every Last Byte.

The space once occupied by the Italian imports grocer (which moved right next door to its old location) is still waiting to say "benvenuto" to a new tenant.

Leased! And this is a big one. Designer shoe mecca DSW will take over all 28,000 square feet of the space inside the River Forest Town Center that once housed Linens N Things. .

Update: We've heard back from the realtors. They say the space at 1038 and the adjacent 1044 Lake Street are going to be taken over by a restaurant, but declined to provide specifics until the transaction is complete. In short, there's a new restaurant coming to Lake Street.

Back in May, a realtor told us they had a lease on the space at 1038 Lake St. but were keeping mum until the deal was done. We've put another call in to see if there's been any updates. For now, the prime downtown Oak Park real estate remains empty.

The former grocery store still has racks, registers and shelving inside. But no tenant.

Streaming video has rendered old-fashioned video rental stores obsolete. Will a new tenant be kind and rewind this corner store back to a bustling business? Realtor David King tells us his company has had "lots of conversations but no tenants."

Have ideas for what should replace these empty spaces? The comment board is open, as always...