Despite earlier reports anticipating an April appointment with the wrecking ball, demolition of Lincoln Park’s former Children's Memorial Hospital has been delayed by at least one month. According to the DNAinfo, developer Dan McCaffery and Houston-based Hines Interests are unworried by the delay which has moved the demolition date to June 7th of this year. McCaffery credited the hold-up to an unspecified permitting issue with the City of Chicago.
While hazardous material disposal, asbestos remediation, and rodent abatement work has been taking place inside the abandoned building for weeks, exterior scaffolding was set to be erected last month, according to a March 1st public meeting outlining the process. With demo originally expected to last through November (followed by two-plus years of construction), it remains to be seen how or if this delay will impact the project’s final delivery date.
The redevelopment of the former hospital will include 540 rental units spread across a pair of 19-story towers, 60 low-rise condo units, 160,000 square feet of new retail, a senior housing facility, and public open space. Despite the project shrinking in height and density several times during its lengthy approval process, an unsuccessful lawsuit filed by 2014 dissatisfied neighbors prevented the developers from taking control of the property until February of this year.
- Children's Memorial Hospital Project More Than Month Behind Schedule [DNAinfo]
- Long-Delayed Children's Memorial Hospital Project Inches Closer to Construction [Curbed Chicago]
- Previous Lincoln Park coverage [Curbed Chicago]