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Children's Memorial Redevelopment Finally Underway as Deal Closes

By Mina Bloom | February 12, 2016 11:45am | Updated on February 15, 2016 8:48am
 A rendering of the main plaza of the Children's Memorial development site that will be built off Lincoln Avenue
A rendering of the main plaza of the Children's Memorial development site that will be built off Lincoln Avenue
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McCaffery Interests

LINCOLN PARK — The developers behind the Children's Memorial Hospital project have finally closed the deal on the property, marking the first step in the long-stalled redevelopment process.

McCaffery Interests, in partnership with Houston-based Hines, bought the 6-acre site of prime real estate at Lincoln Avenue, Fullerton Parkway and Halsted Street this week from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, according to Dan McCaffery, CEO and chairman of McCaffery Interests.

McCaffery declined to disclose the sale amount.

"Of course we're very pleased, very excited," McCaffery told DNAinfo Chicago.

Now that the developers officially own the property, the redevelopment process can begin. That means demolition, which is expected to last at least a year, should begin soon.

Once the site is cleared, construction on the $350 million project should take at least 30 months. The plans include two apartment buildings with 540 units, about 160,000 square feet of retail and up to 60 condominiums.

The site has been vacant since 2012 when the hospital moved to Streeterville. 

Even though McCaffery was chosen to develop the project before the hospital even moved, the process was stalled largely due to a lawsuit by neighbors of the site.

In December, McCaffery pointed to the lawsuit as one of a few reasons for the project's delay. The suit, filed by Mid-North Association and Park West Community Association, was dismissed by a Cook County judge in January, but the neighbors appealed, which prolonged the legal process. 

"There's a series of reasons," McCaffery said at the time. "There is a lawsuit. We're in a position of being somewhat courteous and cautious, minding our p's and q's, and not doing things that are silly," he said.

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