City OK’s land sale for new community wellness campus in Chicago’s Little Village

In the works since at least 2012, an ambitious plan to build a new community health and wellness campus in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood has cleared another milestone. Yesterday, the City of Chicago’s Community Development Commission (CDC) voted in favor of a measure to sell a blighted, formerly industrial property near 31st Street and Kedzie Avenue to the project’s developers for $1.

The parcel will eventually be transformed into a new facility for Saint Anthony hospital and a wide collection of amenities for the neighborhood. More than simply a medical center, the so-called Focal Point Community Campus will provide nearby residents with fitness facilities, sports fields, and other community-oriented services.

Designed to be more self-sufficient and less reliant on government grant money, the mixed-use development hopes to draw a number of revenue-generating tenants such as retail stores, restaurants, day care facilities, a parking garage, and—of course—Saint Anthony Hospital.

Because the project is receiving Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to get off the ground, the city of Chicago has also laid out a fairly rigid timeline for the project. According to existing agreements, the Focal Point Community Campus therefore must commence construction no later than August 31, 2017 with a target completion date set no later than June of 2022.

To realize its grand plan, Focal Point has teamed up with development partner Jones Lang LaSalle and market research consultants August Partners on the $589 million project. Architectural work comes from local outfit HDR Architecture, a firm that specializes in hospital design.

When combined with an adjacent future acquisition site, the Focal Point campus is expected to span 22 acres and serve roughly 400,000 residents of Chicago’s West and Southwest Sides in communities including North & South Lawndale, Little Village, Pilsen, Back of the Yards, Bridgeport, and Austin.

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• St. Anthony Ministries Renders Medical Campus Into Existence [Curbed Chicago]
• Focal Point Chicago [Official Website]