City Seeks Prospective Master Planning and Design Teams for Hospital Site Redevelopment

Bloomington, Ind. - The City of Bloomington’s Redevelopment Commission has issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking a qualified, multidisciplinary team of planners, architects, civil engineers, and urban designers to provide Master Planning and Design services for the IU Health Bloomington Hospital Redevelopment Project. The area includes 24 acres of land occupied by IU Health Bloomington Hospital and its affiliated operations and other surrounding parcels currently zoned for medical use. The RFI was issued November 18, and responses are due Thursday, December 19 by 12 p.m. Prospective bidders may download an information packet here.   

In May 2018, the City’s Redevelopment Commission entered into a purchase agreement with IU Health for its current 24-acre hospital site.  The hospital site will be available for redevelopment when IU Health vacates its current buildings and moves its hospital operations to the new IU Health Bloomington Regional Academic Health Center on the east side of Bloomington. The move is targeted to take place in late 2021.  The terms of the purchase agreement stipulated that most of the current hospital buildings be demolished. 

“The hospital site represents a rare opportunity to shape the sustainable redevelopment of a central part of our city,” said Mayor John Hamilton.  “We look forward to engaging a master planning team that will help all of us in the community to produce an ambitious and achievable vision for the site, one that can provide a future-oriented new section of downtown with mixed housing, sustainable economic opportunities, and a stronger community for all.”   

Located just south of Bloomington’s downtown and bounded roughly by West Second Street to the north, West Wylie Street to the south, the B-Line Trail to the east, and South Walker Street to the west, the hospital site is one of four major City development projects -- the “string of pearls” -- located along the 3.1-mile-long B-Line Trail. The other three projects are the redevelopment of the Trades District (in progress), the expansion of the convention center (in progress), and the development of Switchyard Park (completed in November 2019).

The Concept Plan for the hospital site includes the following goals for its redevelopment:

•  Assist with housing needs for a variety of housing types/different income levels 

•  Provide office space for new and existing businesses  

• Maintain neighborhood scale  

• Contribute to the network of public spaces  

• Re-stitch the street grid, breaking up the mega-block 

• Link key City assets to strengthen connections between people and places 

• Include other community assets, such as an arts and activity center, an urgent care facility, and education and skilled trades training facilities 

The Master Planning team will be a key member of the City’s IU Health Bloomington Hospital Redevelopment Project team and will work closely with the City, the City’s development representative (owner’s representative/developer) and associated team members, the public, and other key project stakeholders to accomplish the following tasks:

• Lead a collaborative Master Planning process with a robust public engagement component that culminates in the completion of a comprehensive Master Plan and Design Guidelines for the site.

• Work to gain acceptance of Master Plan and Design Guidelines by the City.

• Translate the new vision for the site into zoning updates for approval by the City Plan Commission and the Common Council. 

Responses to the RFI are due Thursday, December 19 by 12 p.m. More information is available here.