Redevelopment Of Vacant Lakefront Hospital Site Is Finally Moving Forward

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Sep 30, 2016 8:40PM

The long-vacant site of Michael Reese Hospital on the city's Near South Side lakefront is finally going to have a second life—not as the 2016 Olympic Village, thank goodness, but as a mixed-use residential and shopping corridor.

The city is going to start accepting bids from redevelopers for the 49-acre parcel of land this October, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Friday. Bids can include plans to turn parts of the land into a commercial, residential or recreational space, and will be due by Feb. 22, 2017. The land's proximity to the Loop, the lakefront and historic Bronzeville make it particularly interesting.

The city acquired the site, which runs between 26th Street and 31st Street, when Michael Reese Hospital closed up shop in 2009, with plans to turn it into the 2016 Olympic Village. The city was quick to demolish the hospital when Chicago's Olympic bid tanked, but the site has now sat vacant for years. Change comes slow—don't expect the city to announce a developer until spring of 2017—but at least it's happening.

“The Michael Reese site has been vacant for nearly ten years," Emanuel said in a statement. "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform a part of the South Side and generate economic opportunities that will reach throughout Chicago."

In the short term, the redevelopment of Michael Reese promises to create thousands of jobs and aid Bronzeville's long-overlooked retail corridors. The area has been labeled a food and retail desert because shopping venues are few and far between and some local small business owners have struggled to stay afloat.