It's been on the rental market since at least February, so it was no surprise when Bar Louie restaurant shut its doors for good on March 31.
The closing follows a number of restaurant closures in the area over the last several months. Five Guys hamburger restaurant, right across the street at 1115 Lake St., closed in November, and Mancini's Italian Bistro restaurant, 1111 Lake St., has been closed since around the beginning of the year.
Prairie Bread Kitchen, located nearby at 103 N. Marion St., announced in March that it's closing up shop right after Easter of this year.
He said there has been a lot of interest from up-and-coming restaurateurs for "second-generation restaurant space" – that is space that is already built out as a restaurant for a previous tenant.
"We recognize there are going to be times when there are a couple of closures in the same area, and that may give people concern, but that's kind of the nature of downtowns," he said.
Shanon Williams, executive director of Downtown Oak Park, said she expects Mancini's to reopen shortly under original owner Al Mancini.
She added that Bar Louie and Five Guys had both been then there for a while and she wasn't surprised to see them close. "I wasn't disappointed that they left," she said, adding that she doesn't want to see businesses close in downtown.
"If anybody is in bad shape right now, that's definitely going to push them over the edge," she said.