Long-Vacant Michael Reese Site Slated For Hotel, Homes, Tech & Retail Space
By Stephen Gossett in News on Jun 2, 2017 3:20PM
Singer Pavilion / Michael Reese campus / Flickr / Landmarks Illinois
It looks like the long-dormant Michael Reese Hospital site—which the city infamously purchased way back in 2009 with designs to make it an anchor for an Olympics that Chicago of course never hosted—will finally be resuscitated into a new development. The city has reportedly landed a group of developers that look to create tech-oriented commercial space, retail, residential housing, and a hotel on the unused space. A "logistics center" to aid McCormick Place traffic is also part of the plan.
The development team includes Farpoint Development, Draper & Kramer, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, and McLaurin Development Partners. Venerable local architecture firm Skidmore Owings & Merrill will act as consultants. The city will reportedly formally announce the plan on Friday morning.
"Over the next 10 years this team will work with the community and the city to deliver a once-in-a-lifetime redevelopment that will generate economic opportunities and growth in Bronzeville and in neighborhoods throughout the city of Chicago," Emanuel said in a forthcoming statement, via Crain's.
The developers will reportedly buy the site for $144 million. The city of Chicago paid $96 million for the site that long-ago gamble to win the 2016 Olympics, which were eventually awarded to Rio. It went on to accrue 73 million in debt on the site, according to Crain's.
The logistics center would be built in the first phase of construction. That phase would also the addition of a event/meeting space. The tech space, housing, hotel and other additions—totaling more than 5 million square feet—would follow in later stages.
The only remaining building from the old campus—which was once dotted with modernist standouts from the renowned likes of Walter Gropius—is the Singer Pavilion. It joined the Thompson Center and the Rotunda Building at O'Hare Airport on Landmark Illinois' 2017 list of the most endangered historic places in the state.