The Niles Village Board gave the NorthShore University Health System a go-ahead to build a clinic near the intersection of Touhy and Caldwell avenues.
The clinic will be built on a vacant lot formerly occupied by America’s Midwest Hotel, which was abandoned by its owners in February 2013. During the summer of 2014, Oak Brook based Intrepid Properties bought the lot, leveling the buildings to clear the way for future redevelopment.
According to the documents submitted to the Village Board, the new medical facility will house three practices that will use a total of 30 examination rooms and two rooms to perform minor medical procedures. The site will include two parking lots on both sides of the building, and there are provisions to add a second floor that would expand the facility’s capacity even further.
The site’s future has been uncertain since the hotel was abandoned. At the time, the village was already investigating multiple code violations. After the owners stopped paying utility bills, the village moved in to seal the vacant buildings off.
In July 2014, Mike Stratis, the principal at the Intrepid Properties, purchased the site. At the time, he told Niles Herald-Spectator that he purchased the site purely for speculative purposes, and that he intended to level the buildings with a year.
A month later, the village of Niles unveiled a plan for redevelopment of what was dubbed the “Touhy Triangle” by Niles Economic Development Coordinator Ross Klicker—an area bound by Gross Point Road and Lehigh Avenue. The proposal called for a business-class hotel to replace the motel. At the time, Niles Community Development Coordinator Ross Klicker said that nothing that the vision outlined was set in stone, and that any aspect of the proposal could change.
Since then, Lakhani Hospitality announced that they will replace the Traveler’s Inn motel with a Holiday Inn Express hotel, which would cater to business travelers. Traveler’s Inn, which closed on Feb. 28, is located further west on Touhy Avenue, near Touhy/Milwaukee intersection.
NorthShore’s medical offices wouldn’t be the first medical facility in the area. The Professional Eye Care Center is located immediately to the west, and Advocate Medical Group’s Niles Occupational Health and Immediate Care facility is located across the street.
According to the plans submitted to the Village Board, the clinic would be located in the middle of the lot, with parking lots located along Touhy and Gross Point. There will be a total of 150 parking spaces, 15 of which would be handicap-accessible. The document explained that, while the village requires 75 parking lots for a medical facility with 30 exam rooms, NorthShore wanted to prepare for a possibility of adding a second floor. If the second floor is added, it would feature the same design as the first floor, doubling the number of exam rooms.
In keeping with the requirements set by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, the northeastern tip of the lot will house a stormwater retention pond. This is expected to help reduce flooding in the area.
Accoridng to the plans, the facility is currently expected to be open between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. The weekend hours of operation haven’t been determined
Like other medical facility, NorthShore had to apply for a special use permit in order to build and operate the medical offices on the site. The Niles Plan Commission recommended that the Village Board approve the application. The Village Board voted unanimously to follow that recommendation during its March 24 meeting.
NorthShore spokeswoman Amy Ferguson told Niles Herald-Spectator that the offices should be finished some time next year. Because Touhy Avenue is a state highway, there are still some procedural hurdles that will need to be cleared.
“Construction will start as soon as we have a permit from Illinois Department of Transportation,” said Ferguson. “We expect to have [the offices] open in 2016.”
Igor Studenkov is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.