$135M Financing Package Kick-Starting Redevelopment Of Hospital Made Famous In 'The Fugitive'
The long-awaited redevelopment of historic Cook County Hospital will begin next month after the development team secured $135M in financing. Murphy Development Group CEO John Murphy told the Chicago Tribune the first phase of redevelopment will begin construction within the next two weeks.
The 102-year-old building, which was a setting in the 1993 film "The Fugitive," has been vacant since 2002 and was once threatened with demolition. The redevelopment is part of a five-phase project within the Illinois Medical District. Murphy estimates the value of the redevelopment at $1B.
Murphy Development leads a development team, Civic Health Development Group — which includes MB Real Estate where Murphy is a vice chairman, Walsh Investors and Granite Cos. The financing package put together by senior lender CIBC includes a mezzanine loan from Ares Management and historic tax credits from U.S. Bank Community Investment.
The first phase of the redevelopment will consist of a dual-branded, 210-key Hyatt House/Hyatt Place hotel, 71K SF of medical office space that will be leased by Cook County Hospital and Hospital Sytems, and 25K SF of retail.
The 345K SF building is 550 feet long — think of it as a miniature version of the Old Main Post Office redevelopment, only CHDG has 14 more acres to build upon.
CHDG signed a series of 99-year ground leases for the site in February. The Illinois Medical District has 40 acres within its boundaries waiting to be developed, and the district is a left-field candidate in Chicago's bid for Amazon's second headquarters.
