Medical clinic wants former Borders basement, part of main floor in downtown Oak Park

Zoning board to hear variance request next month

Tuesday, April 17th, 2012 10:00 PM

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By La Risa Lynch

Contributing Reporter

Perhaps the biggest challenge to bringing new life to the old Borders space at Lake Street and Harlem is what to do with the store's lower level. Oak Park's Zoning Board of Appeals will hear a proposal next month from a medical clinic which wants to lease the basement but needs a variance to allow some portion of the main floor to be used as an entry to the clinic.

The retail-only zoning overlay in Downtown Oak Park would prohibit any medical use within 50-feet of any store frontage. Pat Zubak, executive director of the downtown business association, was reluctant to comment on the proposal Monday since she had not seen detailed floor plans. But she affirmed the association's support for the retail focus on ground floor spaces. "Downtown Oak Park has almost always taken a position to support retail uses on first floors in our district," she said.

At issue when the zoning board meets on May 2 may be the configuration of the proposed entry and the square footage being asked on the main level. Mike Bruce, the village's zoning officer, said a variance is need for the proposal since medical offices are among the listed uses not allowed on the ground floor unless the facility is more than 50-feet from the street line. He said the purpose of the hearing is to ask for a variance from that specific requirement.

Cara Pavlicek, Oak Park's interim village manager, said Tuesday that the variance request is for main floor access to the basement from the building's Harlem Avenue entrance and not off of Lake Street.

Attempts to reach officials at Water Tower Reality Management Group, which owns the building that housed Borders, for comment were unsuccessful. A legal notice in last week's Wednesday Journal did not identify the clinic's operator or what type of clinic would be housed in the building.

Zubak said she could not comment in detail on the proposal until she had more information about the layout of the proposed clinic. However, she said in speaking with the building's owners the clinic wants to use "the center part" of the first floor and the majority of the basement. She said she was uncertain if retail business would surround the clinic.

"I don't know where the access, egress [or] how you are going to enter into the space. I have not seen any of that. So I really can't comment," Zubak said.

Zubak said the focus on first floor retail "creates synergy with the other retail uses. It's hard to say, without seeing the plans, would this proposed use have a negative impact on the surrounding retail. We don't know until we see the plans," she said.

The Oak Park Borders was among nearly 400 stores to close nationwide when the Michigan-based book retailer filed for bankruptcy in 2011. The Oak Park store closed in September and the space has been vacant since then.

Borders set up shop at 1144 Lake in May 2000, according to village hall. The space was previously a discount shoe store, and before that, for many decades a Marshall Field's.

Reader Comments

13 Comments - Add Your Comment

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Q from Oak Park

Posted: April 20th, 2012 5:42 PM

Jim Coughlin, is correct. All the Village people need to do is approve the building is completed to building code. Business people generally prefer to rent to people who can make money to pay for the rent. The Village people only know how to spend tax payers money so they have no idea how to make money and have no experience at being in the rental business. Everything they do is a waste of money. Anyone know if the taxpayers get their donation of Lake and Forest land back. No one is building.

opguy

Posted: April 20th, 2012 12:39 PM

i like the clinic idea as long as people are either required to have insurance or pay in advance. last thing we need is more handouts or people coming in from the west side to get free medical care

Jeet Thayil

Posted: April 20th, 2012 6:56 AM

Basement clinic? sounds like a nice little opium den to me.

No Reefer Madness

Posted: April 19th, 2012 9:08 PM

Sorry, Reefer, but the Village Board isn't sharing.

T.J. from OP

Posted: April 19th, 2012 4:06 PM

I think a health clinic would be an excellent use for the basement space of the building. I have seen groups like Access Health and Aunt Martha's Health Clinics occupy less than prime space with great success. I think a health clinic would be an ideal tenant for the space. You would never find anyting better. Make this happen.

Jim Coughlin Facebook Verified

Posted: April 18th, 2012 12:58 PM

Is it strictly up to the building owners to find a new tenant for this prime location or has the Village and DTOP business association also been involved in recruitment efforts to attract a major retailer?

Reefer Madness

Posted: April 18th, 2012 9:30 AM

Medical Pot, please. Buy it in the basement, smoke it in the colt building parking lot...dude, what will Oak Park think of next?

Village Board

Posted: April 18th, 2012 9:24 AM

We, the members of the village board, think that this "A Clock Work Orange" clinic will be a great addition to the village. It's first goal will be to clear people's mind that the vma is bad, second reduce the sales tax income to the village so we can justify a tif district for the lake street corridor. Our soon to be New Leader, ray johnson, loves tif districts and would like to extend a new one on Roosevelt road all the way up to and include Lake street...because tif have work so well in op.

anne from Oak Park

Posted: April 18th, 2012 8:50 AM

That corner is creepy enough do we really need a "basement" clinic? "Just say NO"!

OPRFDad

Posted: April 18th, 2012 8:40 AM

Shady. There's space across the street in the shopping center, and they want to put the medical clinic in the basement of a building. Cough - oxylab - cough.

Janet Pulinsky from Oak Park

Posted: April 18th, 2012 8:26 AM

I hope Bud is being facetious here, but I hope Cara Pavlicek is paying attention here. I know for a fact that the potential operators of this medical clinic have a dubious past. They were in trouble in Florida for dispensing an irresponsible amount of pills and left the state accordingly.

From RF

Posted: April 18th, 2012 7:42 AM

lol Bud lol

bud

Posted: April 18th, 2012 7:36 AM

yo i hope this is some quick prescription place. not necessarily a pill mill, but along the lines. would be tight

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