A long-vacant corner lot at Roosevelt Road and Lyman Avenue could become a 28-unit affordable housing building that sits right at the sidewalk's edge, with zero front or side setbacks, twice the permitted density, and 16 of the 28 required parking spaces.
The Community Builders, a national nonprofit developer, brought its planned development application (PC 26-04, docket TCB-6104) before the Oak Park Plan Commission at a public hearing on Thursday, June 4. The project at 6104 Roosevelt Road, zoned RR Roosevelt Road Form-Based, requires eight zoning allowances to proceed.
The biggest ask: cutting the minimum lot area per unit from 750 square feet to 376 square feet, which doubles the permitted unit count from 14 to 28. The proposed mix includes three studios, 15 one-bedrooms, eight two-bedrooms, and two live/work units in a four-story building.
What the allowances would change
The eight requested allowances, according to the Plan Commission agenda:
- Density: 750 square feet per unit reduced to 376 square feet per unit (14 units allowed becomes 28)
- Front setback (Roosevelt Road): 2.5 feet reduced to zero
- Side street setback (Lyman Avenue): 10 feet reduced to zero
- Rear setback (2nd–4th floors): 20 feet reduced to 10 feet
- Rear landscape buffer: 5-foot setback and landscaping requirement eliminated for parking adjacent to the alley
- Off-street parking: 28 required spaces reduced to 16
- Bicycle parking: Standard rack dimensions waived to allow stacked bike racks
- Exterior lighting: Maximum illumination increased along the alley (from 1.2 to 5.5 footcandles), along the Lyman Avenue residential entry (from 1 to up to 66 footcandles), and along the Roosevelt Road sidewalk (from 1 to up to 79.5 footcandles)
Financial context
The Community Builders has estimated the project at more than $19 million, according to village records from the January 2025 housing trust fund discussion. The Village Board unanimously approved $700,000 from Oak Park's housing trust fund for the project in January 2025, with one trustee absent. That funding is conditioned on The Community Builders receiving more than $13.6 million in Low Income Housing Tax Credits from the Illinois Housing Development Authority. The IHDA award status has not been publicly confirmed.
The parcel, a former auto service station, was sold by the Cook County Land Bank to Oak Park resident Yves Hughes in 2022 for $115,000. In October 2025, the Village Board voted 6-1 to deny Hughes a special use permit for a temporary EV charging station on the site. How the parcel transfers to The Community Builders has not been detailed in public filings.
The Community Builders already operates The 801 Apartments, a 37-unit affordable complex at 801 Van Buren Street that opened in June 2021 at a cost of $15 million. That project also received village housing fund dollars and faced unsuccessful lawsuits from residents over its zoning variances.
What comes next
The Plan Commission's recommendation from the June 4 hearing has not been published. The project does not appear on the Village Board's Tuesday, June 23 agenda, confirming it remains in the commission review stage. No Village Board vote has been scheduled.
