CHICAGO, IL — A major South Side development aimed at connecting education, healthcare and workforce training is moving closer to reality in Washington Park. The University of Chicago, UChicago Medicine and City Colleges of Chicago have now shared the full site plan for a planned education, health and science campus along Garfield Boulevard.
The project would bring a new clinical laboratory and a Malcolm X College South Campus to the neighborhood, creating what leaders describe as a direct path into healthcare careers for residents who want to train closer to home. At an Oct. 6 community meeting, the institutions showed renderings of the lab, parking structure, plaza and college building to neighbors and local leaders.
Plans center on Garfield Boulevard and the Garfield Green Line station
The campus was first announced in March 2024 and would sit between the Garfield Green Line station and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The layout places classrooms and a working laboratory on the same site, with a parking structure attached to serve the development.
Officials said the revised design reflects feedback from the community. The Malcolm X College building is now planned for the corner of Calumet Avenue and Garfield Boulevard, away from the ‘L’ tracks, and a landscaped plaza would link the college and laboratory buildings. The plan also keeps 54th Place open to the public and widens it.
About 100 people attended the Oct. 6 meeting in person, and more than 80 joined online. The laboratory design had already been shown earlier this summer at Ald. Pat Dowell’s community meeting.
UChicago Medicine laboratory would expand testing and add jobs
The new four-story laboratory at Garfield Boulevard and King Drive would consolidate pathology operations now spread across several buildings on the Hyde Park campus. UChicago Medicine says the change would improve efficiency and increase the amount of testing it can handle for patients across the health system.
In its first year, testing volume is projected to rise by about 17 percent as the medical center brings some specialized testing back from out-of-state labs and begins serving community hospitals around the region. The facility would include space for new test development, digital pathology and clinical genomics.
UChicago Medicine says laboratory results influence about 70 percent of clinical decisions. Tests range from routine blood sugar checks for diabetes care to molecular tumor analysis used in cancer clinical trials.
Food hall and public-facing space are part of the design
The laboratory would include more than just clinical space. Its ground floor is planned to hold a food hall at Garfield and King Drive that would be open to the public, adding a retail element to the campus.
UChicago Medicine would build out that space and lease it to vendors, and local and South Side businesses would be invited to compete for the opportunity through a request for proposals. That feature is part of a broader effort to make the campus active at street level and useful beyond the workplace and classroom.
The project’s backers have also said the campus is intended to strengthen the Washington Park corridor and create a more welcoming gateway to the neighborhood.
Malcolm X College South Campus would train students for shortage jobs
City Colleges of Chicago plans to build the Malcolm X College South Campus next to the laboratory. The four-story building would house Chicago’s first medical laboratory technician program and would also offer training in areas such as phlebotomy and community health work.
When fully operating, the campus is expected to serve more than 800 students a year. City Colleges leaders said the medical laboratory assistant and medical laboratory technician programs would make Malcolm X College the only community college in Chicago offering both pathways.
College and hospital leaders said students would be able to move directly from classrooms to clinical rotations inside the new UChicago Medicine lab. They also noted that demand for clinical laboratory technicians has outpaced supply, with roughly 500 openings a year expected in the Chicago area and many jobs accessible with a certificate or a one- to two-year degree.
Community feedback has shaped the project since 2024
The development builds on planning documents shaped by residents, including the 2009 Washington Park Quality of Life Plan and the 2014 Green Healthy Neighborhoods Plan. Residents have continued to weigh in as the campus design has evolved.
At the July meeting with Ald. Dowell, people asked how the campus would connect with nearby high schools, what other programs Malcolm X College might offer and how many jobs at the lab would be new. At the Oct. 6 session, questions focused on access to the training programs, student recruitment from nearby schools and whether the site would include green space.
Dowell said residents have been clear that they want jobs, training and investment on the corridor. She also said she wants the project linked with Burke Elementary, Dyett High School and Daniel Hale Williams Prep so neighborhood students can see healthcare careers as realistic options.
Approvals, construction partners and next steps
Several approvals still need to fall into place before construction begins. UChicago Medicine recently filed a certificate of need application with the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board for the laboratory, and the Chicago Plan Commission is expected to review the site’s planned development in November.
City Colleges expects to seek approval for its building next year. If the schedule holds, construction on the laboratory is planned to start in spring 2027, with the lab opening in 2029. A contractor is expected to begin demolition of a former gas station at Garfield and King Drive and start site cleanup in the coming weeks.
South Side firms are involved in the work: BOWA Construction, in a joint venture with Leopardo, will manage the laboratory project, while Power Construction and UJAMAA Construction will handle the parking structure and site improvements. Construction is expected to support about 1,380 jobs.