Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the main teaching hospital of the Feinberg School of Medicine, plans to build a new 1-million-square-foot outpatient care pavilion.
The project will cost an expected $334 million, and the new 25-story facility will house offices for doctors as well as outpatient facilities, according to Crain’s Chicago Business.
More than 650 permanent jobs will be created due to the new pavilion, as will 700 temporary construction jobs, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Hospital President and CEO Dean Harrison and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel first announced the plans in December at a press conference. Since then, the hospital has been working with the Chicago City Council and the city’s zoning committee to pave the way for a 2014 opening.
The project “will add to Chicago’s many advantages that help attract the best companies,” Emanuel said during the press conference.
More than 550 additional parking spaces will be added to the new building, which will be near the intersection of Erie Street and Fairbanks Court on NU’s Chicago Campus.
The top-ranked hospital made national headlines last month when U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) underwent surgery at Northwestern Memorial after suffering a stroke. Kirk has since been transferred to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago to focus on his recovery.
Billions of dollars are also being spent on renovation projects at several other Chicago hospitals, according to the Chicago Tribune, including Rush University Medical Center, Children’s Memorial Hospital and The University of Chicago Medical Center.
Kris Lathan, the hospital’s director of media relations, could not be reached for comment Friday.
