Take A Look Inside The Plans To Lure Amazon HQ2 To The Michael Reese Hospital Site
By Stephen Gossett in News on Oct 17, 2017 4:10PM
The long-vacant Michael Reese Hospital site has been bandied about as a potential landing spot for Amazon's uber-coveted second headquarters. Now, developers have officially unveiled visuals of plans for the sprawling multi-acre site and publicly made known their desire to bring HQ2 to the Bronzeville space.
A development team that includes Farpoint Development and Draper & Kramer is negotiating to buy the site for $144 million, the city announced in June. The team announced plans for tech-focused commercial space, retail, housing, a hotel and a logistics center to help with McCormick Place traffic. Now we have renderings to pair with the vision. Some 140 acres are up for transformation.
The concept could also be remolded to better fit Amazon's requirements if necessary. "The most important thing is to get Amazon to Chicago, which would be a boom for everyone," Scott Goodman, of Farpoint, told the Tribune. So what do you think, Mr. Bezos?
The Reese site has been a magnet for big-idea projections more or less since 2009, when the city of Chicago bought the property with ultimately stymied visions of Olympic rings dancing in its head. (Bronzeville activists worked to shift attention from the city's the failed Olympic bid to advocate against a lack of affordable housing.) But Amazon or no, it's an interesting glimpse at what the powers that be have in mind.
That Michael Reese hospital site has had many imaginary lives: the Obama Library, an Olympic Village, the Lucas museum, now an Amazon HQ https://t.co/MLxCVlFiej
— Emily Badger (@emilymbadger) October 16, 2017
Chicago officially filed its bid for Amazon's HQ2 on Monday but didn't disclose any incentives it might have put on the table or cite any location candidates. Other likely contenders include the in-revamp Old Main Post Office and the old Finkl Steel site, now rebranded by developers as Lincoln Yards.