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Civic Health Development Group cleared to overhaul old Cook County Hospital
Work to repurpose the old hospital into two hotels is the start of a $1B project
Civic Health Development Group will start work on overhauling the long-vacant massive Cook County Hospital building, the first step in a $1 billion redevelopment of the area.
The city granted a building permit for the project to the joint venture led by Murphy Development Group, according to Curbed. The work is estimated to cost $90 million, according to the permit application.
The developers will convert the 345,000-square-foot building at 1835 West Harrison Street into Hyatt House and Hyatt Place hotels with a total of 210 guest rooms, plus medical offices and retail space. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill is the lead architect.
The developers recently said they secured $135 million in financing for the project through a mix of equity, construction loans and historic tax credits.
Equity investors include local real estate firms MB Real Estate, of which John T. Murphy is vice chairman, and Walsh Investors, Granite Companies and Australia’s Plenary Group. Lenders include CIBC and Ares Management.
Future phases of an estimated $1 billion master plan for the area call for a mix of medical offices, retail space, apartments and more.
The project is part of a flurry of development in the Illinois Medical District, including the new $300 million mixed-use IMD Gateway and a new $473 million tower from Rush University Medical Center. Medical District officials recently sold off 26 acres for $30 million to help relieve debt. [Curbed] — John O’Brien