New Health Innovation Center Floated for Part of Former Michael Reese Hospital Site

Looks like there is some new momentum around the former Michael Reese lot south of McCormick Place (via Chicago Business):

The group planning a huge mixed-use project just south of McCormick Place has landed an anchor tenant to kick off the first phase of the development: a medical innovation center founded by the largest hospital in Israel.

The ARC Innovation Center would open in the first building on the former site of the Michael Reese Hospital, part of a 15-million-square-foot development that could cost as much as $7 billion. The project’s developers, a joint venture led by Chicago-based Farpoint Development, aim to build an ARC-anchored health-science cluster that would spin out new biomedical technologies—and create thousands of jobs—by harnessing the collective power of the area’s universities, companies and entrepreneurs.

The focus on health will seep into all aspects of the project, which will include apartments, a community center, and retail and office spaces.

“We envision it being the healthy community of the future,” said Farpoint Principal Scott Goodman.

The ARC deal represents a key first step for the project, known as Bronzeville Lakefront Development, currently 100 mostly empty acres stretching from McCormick Place to 31st Street. Once considered a site for Amazon’s second headquarters, Bronzeville Lakefront exists only on paper right now, one of a group of Chicago mega-developments that could add tens of thousands of jobs and homes to neighborhoods ringing the central business district.

So when could this move forward:

Before it can break ground on Bronzeville Lakefront, GRIT needs a zoning change from the city and financing for the project’s first phase. Goodman, who aims to begin construction in 2021, has one financing edge: The Michael Reese site sits in an opportunity zone, part of a federal program that provides tax breaks to investors if they back projects in blighted areas.