The Project
Oak Park Commons will be the first cohousing development in Illinois. Current plans include a mix of 1,2 &3 bedroom ADA accessible dwellings in a five story 24 unit condominium. A large common room with adjoining child care, exercise and meeting rooms opens onto a roof top garden. An interior elevator allows for easy access to all floors. Al Tierra, our builder, is committed to affordable sustainable construction.
Neighborhood
The building is located at the corner of Carpenter and Madison Streets in Oak Park; a suburb adjoining the City of Chicago. A pedestrian friendly half mile radius includes a middle school, bus stop, grocery co-op, drug store, bank, CTA train station, Unity Temple, Rush Hospital, Fox Park, Mills Park, and many restaurants. Madison has reduced vehicle traffic and bike lanes. The Village commercial center is a mile away with the Lake Theatre, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Formula Fitness Center, Public Library, Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, and some specialty retail and service shops. Oak Park includes excellent K-12 schools. Lincoln public elementary school offers an optional Spanish bilingual program, Gwendolyn Brooks middle school’s wonderful performing arts opportunities and OPRF high school’s great college and career prep. The school districts actively embrace social diversity and equity goals, as do municipal elected officials and civic leaders.
Joining
Newcomers first become associate members after meeting other members on-line or in person, attending an orientation zoom meeting and paying a $100 fee. New members are invited to participate in one of our teams: design & development, membership and marketing. Our bylaws and handbook have been approved and adopted.
Purchasing
We have attracted $1.4 million in equity captial for a $10 million construction project. We offer socially motivated investors a rate of return between two and eight percent for a two year loan. Equity investors may join our community, but need not. As of January 2024 we had fifteen equity owners who have signed contracts and agreed to purchase units.
Associate members pay a $5,000 refundable fee to reserve a specific unit for several weeks to hold the unit. Before time expires the members signs a purchase contract agreeing to pay a nonrefundable earnest contribution of ten percent of the unit price. The reservation fee can be included in this contribution.
Each resident meets with the interior designer to select finishings and other physical modifications before the builder adjusts the final price for each unit. The current development costs based on standard high quality finishings, but households may have specific preferences that exceed these. The prices in this ad do not include additional charges for these upgrades.
Timeline
We own the land and have obtained permit approvals from the Village of Oak Park. We faced delays obtaining a favorable construction loan in 2023. We have obtained a construction loan from Hoyne Bank in April 2024 and began construction in May 2024. See image of foundation footing frames. We expect occupancy to start in Fall 2025.