A coffee roastery with an internal drive-thru is coming to the former Minit Car Wash building at 7 W. Lake St., steps from the Austin Green Line stop.

Oak Park's Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved two special use permits for the project on March 4, and the Village Board consented to the use on March 24. The project is now in the building permit phase, with fire protection systems and mechanical work being designed by consultants. No opening date has been announced.

What's planned

The roughly 2,800-square-foot interior will house a 960-square-foot roastery, a 385-square-foot coffee shop, and a 1,400-square-foot bypass lane that functions as a drive-thru from 7 to 11 a.m., then converts to café seating from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The building's existing drive-through lanes, left over from its car wash days, make the conversion possible.

Greg Sorg, who operates Sorg Speed Inc. at 408 N. Austin Blvd. and also owns One Lake Brewing next door, purchased the building in 2015. His permit application describes the concept as similar to One Lake Brewing, substituting coffee for beer, and emphasizes the roastery as both a commercial and community space for nearby residents and Green Line commuters.

The business name has not been announced.

Traffic and safety conditions

At the March 4 hearing, Sorg told the ZBA the drive-thru would handle roughly six to eight vehicles per hour, noting that during the building's years as a car wash, vehicles never stacked into North Boulevard. Drivers will enter from North Boulevard, a one-way street to the south, and exit via a new curb cut on Lake Street with a right-turn-only restriction.

The ZBA attached several conditions to its 7-0 approval: pedestrian safety systems including mirrors, warning signs, lights, and sound-emitting devices; a "pork chop" island traffic control device at the curb cut; detectable warning pads at curb cuts meeting ADA standards; and no outdoor dining.

The owner

Sorg is a longtime Oak Park resident whose company, Pioneer Property Advisors, has owned properties along the Lake and Austin corridor for more than a decade. In a 2016 Wednesday Journal profile, he said Lake and Austin ought to be a "bridgeway" between two communities rather than a gateway that suggests limited access.

The coffee roastery would add a food-service option to the corridor, which already includes One Lake Brewing and the adjacent Stevenson Recreation Center and Austin Park Water Playground.

What's next

The project must clear the village's building permit process before construction can begin. A ZBA member noted at the March 4 hearing that representatives from the Stevenson Recreation Center, which shares a wall with 7 Lake St., stated support for the proposal, according to ZBA minutes.

The architect on the project is Brian Hammersley of Hammersley Architecture in Chicago.