The Chicago-based shuttered 102-year-old CookCountyHospital building has been vacant for 13 years. A popular target for graffiti vandalism and metal theft, the aging building could be next in line for redevelopment, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will announce Wednesday a development agreement that would transform the hospital — which was once the site of important medical innovations — into a hotel, apartments and stores, according to the report.
The rehabilitation of the old hospital — estimated to cost at least $550 million — would mark the first phase of a privately funded plan to upgrade facilities spanning 16 acres of county-owned land in the Illinois Medical District. Other facilities in the district include StrogerHospital, RushUniversityMedicalCenter and the University of Illinois' medical campus. Three phases, which would be completed over the next 10 to 15 years, would include the creation of a technology and research center, medical office buildings, another hotel, more apartments and parking lots, according to the report.
Rehabilitation of CookCountyHospital would start next year and be complete in 2018, according to the report. At the same time, the county plans to build a nine-story building to replace outdated administrative offices and clinics at nearby StrogerHospital.
The county selected The Civic Health Development Group led by MB Real Estate Services to restore the hospital building.