Politics & Government

UPDATE: Village Board Approves Oak Park Housing Project

Oak Park village board settles hotly contested affordable housing facility.

Update, 12:31 a.m. The Oak Park Village Board voted 6-1 to approve the redevelopment of the vacant Comcast building. Trustee John Hedges cast the lone "no" vote. 

After many months and much acrimony, the Oak Park Village Board will on Monday approve or shoot down a developer's plan to turn a long vacant Madison Street building into an affordable housing project. 

The structure, just west of the intersection of Oak Park Avenue and Madison Street, has been vacant for about two years. Developers Interfaith Housing Development Corp. and the  wants to convert the building at 820-832 Madison St. into an L-shaped, environmentally friendly apartment building with 5,200 square feet of retail space on the first floor and 51 single-family units on the second through fourth floors. 

Find out what's happening in Oak Park-River Forestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Rent will be about $700 monthly. People 18 and older who earn at or below $26,300 annually — the area median income, according to the IHDC —would qualify to live there.

The plan has drawn the ire of residents opposed to the project, who say there are already plenty of places for low-income resident to live in Oak Park and that the project could drive down property values. Click here to visit a website offering the opposition's stance against the development

Find out what's happening in Oak Park-River Forestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Still, fair housing advocates like Rob Breymaier, director of the Oak Park Regional Housing Center, say the project

The village board is scheduled to meet at 7:30 p.m. at, 123 Madison St. 

To explore the issue in detail, please see Patch's recent coverage and be sure to check back after the meeting for updates. 


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