The new Focal Point campus will sprawl over an 11-acre site at 31st and Kedzie in Chicago. The development will offer a mix of retail, wellness, education, arts and recreation spaces, and a parking garage which will have a total square footage of one million. The development will also accommodate a healthcare facility by Saint Anthony Hospital and an outpatient clinic.
The project is being developed by Chicago Southwest Development Corporation and will be first-of-its-kind financially self-sustaining campus project. The unique framework makes the campus a financially self-sustaining entity, wherein the income from its for-profit elements will supplement the financial needs of the not-for-profit elements.
The scheme will be noted for its iconography that will be sympathetic to the industrial corridor. The project also aims at transforming the urban community development models in the future. The design work on the scheme is in its initial stages, which indicates complete integration of a healthcare institution into the community context.
The design of the scheme will be based on a research study conducted by HDR Architecture, the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Architecture.
