CHICAGO—Golub & Company and WoodPartners have begun building a massive mixed-use projectat Lake St. and Forest Ave. that will change the skyline ofsuburban Oak Park. Once completed in early 2016, the 21-story Lake+ Forest development will have 270 luxury apartments,27,000-square-feet of retail and commercial space, and parking for588 cars in an attached covered garage.

Although many favored demographic groups have soured on thesuburbs and seem to prefer the new luxury apartments springing upin Chicago, the partners expect that Oak Park's centralized,historic downtown and its more urban feel will attract those samegroups.

Many affluent families with young children, for example, willleave the city over the next few years, and most won't feelcomfortable moving to one of the newer, outer-ring suburbs, PeterCaruso, a vice president for JLL in the Midwestmarket, tells GlobeSt.com. Next week, Caruso and his colleagueShanna Athas will begin marketing the retailcomponent of the development. “Living in Oak Park means you areofficially a suburbanite, but it still gives you an urbanfeel.”