Market Square was designed by renowned architect Howard Van Doren Shaw in 1916. It is the nation’s first planned suburban shopping center and is the iconic civic expression of Lake Forest, admired throughout the nation as the quintessential American town center. Named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, Market Square is comprised of intimately scaled buildings surrounding a public square and consists of retail, residential, and office uses totaling 100,000 SF.

On behalf of L3 Capital, LLC, OKW lead an extensive design and planning effort in restoring and renovating the 100-year old structures. The endeavor includes a detailed historic façade restoration, a comprehensive upgrade of building systems, signage, and accessibility, and the innovative repurposing of underutilized spaces.

While maintaining the historic qualities beloved by the community, OKW and L3 Capital share the vision to enhance the prominent asset and ensure that Market Square provides that pride of place for owners, occupants and residents of Lake Forest  for the next 100 years.

Photography by Wayne Cable