Austin HOPE Center celebrates ribbon cutting

Lurie Children’s Hospital and Stone Community Development Corporation, joined by Mayor Brandon Johnson, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, and other project partners, recently celebrated the ribbon cutting of the Austin HOPE Center at 5036 W. Chicago. Planned for a vacant site at the corner of W. Chicago Ave and N. Lawler Ave, the new facility will be a welcoming space for youth and families to seek community-based services and pediatric clinical and behavioral health care.

Austin HOPE Center counteracts years of disinvestment within West Side communities, promoting health equity while filling critical gaps in Chicago’s health infrastructure. The center will offer pediatric health services including mental and behavioral health care, adolescent medicine, cardiology, developmental and behavioral pediatrics, gastroenterology, hematology, nephrology, pulmonary medicine, weight management and wellness, and autism care. 

The nearly 25,000 square foot HOPE Center, focused on Healing, Opportunity, Partnerships and Equity (HOPE), will house an outpatient Lurie Children’s location where patients can access pediatric specialty and behavioral health services, reducing barriers to care while expanding access to nationally recognized pediatric expertise.  

Beyond healthcare, the center will serve as a flexible community space for youth development, health education, workforce training and neighborhood programming, reflecting the priorities identified by Austin residents throughout the planning and design process.  

It will offer a teen lounge designed by youth for youth and an early childhood room for parents and babies to work with maternal and infant health experts. Lurie Children’s and other community partners will use the facility to deliver programs that strengthen families, promote wellness and create new opportunities for neighborhood residents.

Designed by Gregory Ramon Design Studio and TnS Studio, the new three-story structure stands at 55 feet tall and was designed to consist of a colorful facade made of fiber cement paneling and brick. The site will include 15 parking spaces for visitors and employees. 

The Austin HOPE Center was one of the first developments to benefit from support made available by Mayor Johnson’s $1.25B Housing and Economic Development (HED) Bond. In addition to $5 million in HED funds provided by the Department of Planning and Development (DPD), the project also received a $12 million NMTC allocation from the Chicago Development Fund. 

UJAMAA Construction led the project’s construction, which broke ground in July 2024.