Advocate Hospital Development Approved, City to Make Final Call

Residents surrounding the Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Lake View approved the first phase of the hospital’s redevelopment plan last week after a long and vocal road to smooth out issues.

After a presentation by Advocate officials and by representatives with the neighborhood Planning and Zoning Committee, the Central Lake View Neighbors association voted in favor of the project with 26 votes. Two residents were still against the planned development.

This comes after CLVN officials were forced to postpone a scheduled vote on Oct. 11 when Advocate executives presented new information at the meeting. However, Marie Poppy and her team on the Planning and Zoning Committee reviewed the updated information and made a recommendation to neighbors to approve the development and community protection agreement.

“We were trying to work with the many issues we had,” Poppy said. “We were not going to call a vote until we came to some solutions that were workable, and until we had an agreement that we would get signed by the hospital… We came up with a recommendation, and we said everyone had to vote however they wanted, but these are the facts… Obviously the hospital was pleased.”

"Part of approving Advocate’s planned development was also getting hospital officials to sign a community protection agreement which addresses issues like parking, quiet zones and medical waste overflow."

Estimated to cost $109 million, the first phase of the project is to construct a new Center for Advanced Care. It will be Advocate’s new outpatient complex that essentially removes West Nelson Street between North Halsted and Sheffield Avenue to create a 156,000-square-foot hospital campus. Phase II, which is planned to be much larger, is slated for construction at an unknown date years from now.

However, coming to an agreement hasn’t been an easy process.

Sticking points like parking options, idling ambulances and delivery trucks making certain sidewalks unsafe for pedestrians are just a few of the main concerns on the residents’ list of issues. Neighbors were vocal during the Oct. 11 meeting, with some saying things better change, and quick.

“I can’t imagine that Advocate would be so stupid as to not have something in their contract that you can’t break if something (like delivery truck size) is unsafe,” said Allan Zenoff, the treasurer at CLVN. “Now, I’ve heard of this stuff going on for three or four months about the trucks and private ambulances, and I have pictures taken that shows you continuously ignore what’s going on in our neighborhood.

“And I can tell you I think it’s – horrible that you continue to allow this to happen,” Zenoff continued, speaking to Advocate representatives. “You haven’t done a damn thing, and I think you should.”

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Part of approving Advocate’s planned development was also getting hospital officials to sign a community protection agreement which addresses issues like parking, quiet zones and medical waste overflow. Poppy and her team at CLVN will now begin working with Advocate and Ald. Tom Tunney to begin correcting the issues outlined in the neighbors’ contract.

“Just because we voted on this doesn’t mean everything’s fixed,” Poppy said. “We still as a community have to manage the agreement that we have. So we’re working with the alderman on getting these things executed. They’re coming to the next meeting to brief us on construction plans.”

Hospital officials will now head to the Nov. 27^th Chicago Plan Commission Meeting to secure approval. According to Poppy, the Chicago Department of Transportation is still working on approving the area’s new traffic management plan.  

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