Commission recommends approval of Silver Cross medical office redevelopment with conditions

Silver Cross Hospital presented plans to redevelop its 3.06-acre professional building site at 15505 East 120th Street into a new 20,608-square-foot medical office building with associated utilities, parking, landscaping and phased construction.

Planning staff told the commission the proposed medical office is consistent with the village comprehensive plan’s designation of the corridor as a healthcare sector and with the applicable V3/B3 zoning standards, though the development requests planned-unit-development (PUD) flexibility for certain materials and sign dimensions. Staff said the building would be visually prominent from 120th Street, would provide 104 parking spaces (one more than the UDO requirement of 103 based on 1 space per 200 sq ft), and would include pedestrian connections, landscape buffers and an on-site amenity space.

Silver Cross CEO Michael Mutterber described the hospital system’s clinical capabilities and said the new building would add urgent care, imaging and lab services and allow the institution to consolidate and improve local outpatient services. Architect representatives discussed a phased construction plan intended to keep the existing facility operational while the new building is constructed and to provide interim parking so patient access is maintained.

The PUD application sought exceptions for an aluminum-cladding material not specifically listed in the UDO materials table, a reduced corner side yard setback (20 feet requested vs. 30-foot standard), and a larger monument sign (88 sq ft proposed vs. 64 sq ft allowed and 9.8 feet height requested vs. 8-foot allowed). Staff discussed the need to clarify the planned public amenity/seat area in the site plan and recommended conditions to protect mature trees and to ensure the amenity is clearly shown in the final plan.

Commissioners discussed construction phasing, interim parking counts and emergency access. Kimley-Horn traffic consultant and civil engineer representatives said the interim parking plan would provide 44 spaces for the existing building during construction—double the peak observed count during a site survey—and that stormwater basins would be constructed early in the process and designed to meet MWRD and village drawdown standards (roughly a 72-hour drawdown requirement). Fire district sign-off on the contractor logistics plan and a construction-period parking variance were among the additional conditions proposed by commissioners.

The commission voted to recommend approval of the Silver Cross PUD with staff recommendations and the additional conditions that the applicant receive temporary parking relief during construction if needed, obtain fire department sign-off on the construction logistics plan, and have certificate-of-occupancy timing managed through the village building-permit process.