Children's Memorial developers score Abu Dhabi investment

The developers of the Children's Memorial Hospital residential and retail project plan to begin demolishing the empty hospital by the end of March after securing financing from Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund.

McCaffery Interests and Hines today said they closed on their acquisition of the Lincoln Park hospital, which has been vacant since Children's Memorial moved to Streeterville in 2012. They plan to build 540 apartments, as many as 60 condominiums and about 160,000 square feet of retail and commercial space on the property at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue, Fullerton Parkway and Halsted Street.

Chicago-based McCaffery and Houston-based Hines plan to start tearing down the hospital in the first-quarter 2016, a process that will take about eight months, said Hines Senior Managing Director Greg Van Schaack. The developers expect to start construction on the six-acre site in first-quarter 2017, with the first tenants expected to move in by late 2018.

The developers are financing the project with an equity investment from Henley Holding, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Van Schaack declined to say how much Henley is investing in the development or how much the developers paid for the hospital property.

Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Antunovich Associates, the project will include two 19-story apartment buildings and a condo low-rise.

This article originally appeared on ChicagoBusiness.com