Oak Brook OKs Amazon store project

Amazon has received permission to build a combination store and delivery center in Oak Brook.

The Oak Brook Village Board voted 4-0 Tuesday night to rezone land from office use to retail, to consolidate seven parcels into one, and to allow the construction of a 225,000-square-foot building on the 27-acre site. Trustees Naveen Jain, Edward Tiesenga and Suresh Reddy were absent, so Village President Laurence Herman cast a vote.

Herman thanked Amazon “for having been very good partners in a very lengthy process.” He said there had been numerous modifications to the original proposal, and Amazon is paying $1 million to replace a water main near the site and $125,000 to be used for public-safety projects.

“We look forward to this coming to fruition,” Herman said.

The building will feature a store in the front, where shoppers can buy groceries and general merchandise. The back half will be an order fulfillment center.

It will be at 2901 Butterfield Road, on the south side of Butterfield east of Meyers Road.

The board also prohibited through traffic on nearby Baybrook Lane, which runs through the Ginger Creek neighborhood, to address residents’ concerns that shoppers would use the street to bypass Butterfield. Baybrook runs between Meyers and Midwest roads.

Police Chief Brian Strockis said he didn’t think through traffic would be an issue. Herman said designating it for local traffic only means the village can tell that to Waze and other way-finding apps, so the apps can change how they direct drivers.

The store would be the second of its kind for Amazon. It is building the first in Orland Park.

Seven office buildings will be demolished to make way for the Amazon project. The three-story buildings were built in the 1970s.

Amazon proposed to start demolition in October and finish construction by the end of October 2028.

The project initially proposed also building a 101,000-square-foot furniture store, but that was later dropped.