Marion Seeks Proposals for Old Hospital

Monday night the Marion City Council voted to seek proposals for redevelopment of the old Marion Memorial Hospital site. A Request for Proposal (RFP) went out yesterday.

Here's the RFP in part:

The City of Marion is seeking proposals from qualified developers to acquire and redevelop the former Marion Memorial Hospital located at 917 W. Main Street in Marion, IL.

Letters of intent must be submitted to Gail West, Director of Economic Development, City of Marion, 1102 Tower Square, Marion, IL 62959 by: 5 p.m., Friday, December 3, 2007.

The City of Marion will require the selected development team to enter into a redevelopment agreement with the City and commit to a timeline for improvements.

Background: The former Marion Memorial Hospitals sits on 7.448 acres, on Main Street and one block off of Route 37. The zoning of the site is C-1, General Commercial. The site is composed of three buildings, with a total square footage of 139,176 square feet. The largest building housed an 84 bed hospital and has 121768 sq ft. Attached to the main building is a 10528 sq ft one story building that served as an OB addition. The third Building also a one story brick building served as an insurance processing center and contains 6880 sq ft. Available utilities upon the site are city water, city sewer, electricity, natural gas and telephone. The topography of the site is generally level, drainage is adequate and landscaping is good. The driveway surface and parking areas are mostly asphalt covered. There are 135 parking spaces.

Redevelopment Objectives:
The City of Marion desires to encourage a development project that is innovative and will utilize either: (1) the existing structures or (2) by demolishing the existing structure(s), development of a project with retail, restaurant, and professional offices and/or mixed-use structures and which could include a combination of the following: street-level retail or restaurant and second level housing (town homes, loft-style apartments) and professional offices.

Available Incentives:
Acquisition: The City of Marion is willing to negotiate the cost of the building depending on the project scope and financial feasibility. A financial commitment will be required as a down payment.

The down payment and end use will both be used to judge the award of the proposal.

Hub TIF: The site is located in the Marion’s Hub Tax Increment Financing District. The City is willing to enter into a TIF agreement with the developer.