Former McDonald's office building being razed in Oak Brook

The first office building McDonald's constructed in Oak Brook decades ago is coming down to make room for a $500 million multiuse development.

Village officials said work has begun on the demolition of the eight-story McDonald's Plaza structure, which has stood along the north side of 22nd Street, just east of Spring Road, since 1971. It was the first office building Ray Kroc built in Oak Brook.

"It's got some history there," Village President Gopal Lalmalani said.

Lalmalani said it's sad to see the "beautiful" building go.

"But change is the only constant in life," he said. "Things change. McDonald's decided to move out, and now we are looking for other opportunities."

McDonald's sold its properties in Oak Brook, including an 80-acre campus, after the company moved its headquarters to Chicago's West Loop in June 2018.

Hines bought the McDonald's Plaza site earlier this year, officials said.

The developer plans to build a mixed-use development, called Oak Brook Commons, that will include restaurants, retail, a hotel, two office buildings, a 17-story luxury apartment building and two 14-story condominium buildings.

But first, the existing building needs to be razed.

Tony Budzikowski, the village's development services director, said crews already have put up fencing, removed asbestos and brought in heavy machinery. The demolition is expected to take up to two months to complete, he said.

Then grading and utilities work will be done on the 17.5-acre property.

"They want to get going," Budzikowski said. "They're trying to take advantage of the weather and trying to get a lot of things accomplished before winter slows things down."

It's estimated that the entire project will cost $500 million.

Construction of the new buildings will be done in phases. Budzikowski said the 250-unit apartment building and a restaurant are expected to be built first.

"There's an expectation that some of the first restaurants might submit their permits by January of next year already," Budzikowski said. "So they've got a somewhat ambitious time frame."

Lalmalani said he hopes the first buildings will be finished by the end of 2020.

"The Hines development will be a very high end development," he said. "It will be one of the icons in Oak Brook once it's all completed."