Northwest Community Hospital proposes $86.8 million cancer center at former Motorola site in Schaumburg

Northwest Community Healthcare has proposed construction of a $86.8 million cancer treatment center on a portion of the sprawling former Motorola Solutions campus in Schaumburg.

The five-story, 105,000-square-foot medical office building, to be named the Northwest Community Hospital Cancer Center, is being envisioned as a destination for cancer care in the Northwest suburbs amid anticipated growth in the need for oncology services in the region, officials said.

"Outpatient cancer care is expected to increase in the future due to advances in treatment and technology," officials from the Arlington Heights-based hospital wrote in an application to the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board. "Establishing a stand-alone cancer center will eliminate competition for appointment time and space within the hospital," the application states. "Moreover, it will reduce the risk of exposing cancer patients with weakened immune systems to other illnesses and infections. Finally, having all cancer services in one convenient location can minimize stress, especially for patients who require daily treatments."

Hospital officials said their current cancer treatment operations, in the basement of the 509-bed hospital on Central Road in Arlington Heights, is constrained by space. Immunocompromised cancer patients must enter, travel and exit through hospital corridors with other patients and staff, they said.

The planned ambulatory cancer center, which would be about three miles away at the Veridian redevelopment near the Jane Addams Tollway and Meacham Road, would limit the potential for exposure to COVID-19 by separating cancer services from other patient populations and incorporating a number of design elements aimed at reducing transmission, including private infusion rooms, officials wrote.

They considered a cancer center on the Arlington Heights campus, officials added, but the Veridian site in Schaumburg allows for a location bigger in size, scale and scope.

The Schaumburg site is also seen as centrally located for physicians and medical personnel, and would provide a better option for the large percentage of patients that have historically gone to downtown Chicago for care, according to the hospital's application.

According to the documents filed with the state, there are more than 134,000 patients within Northwest Community Healthcare's primary service area that includes Arlington Heights, Palatine, Rolling Meadows and Mount Prospect, and 400,000 more in a secondary service area that extends into Schaumburg, Northbrook and Mundelein.

Over the next five years, the need for oncology services is estimated to increase by 7% in the primary area and 10% in the secondary area, according to the hospital.

The new cancer center would include clinical exam rooms for oncologists, a pharmacy, laboratory, imaging, research, specialty clinics and family meeting space.

Northwest Community has inked a letter of intent to lease the site from Boler Properties, which has its company headquarters at the Veridian. The 15-year lease, with three options for 5-year extensions, would include the right of first opportunity to purchase the land, according to the letter that was included in the 91-page state application on May 5.

The hospital has expressed interest in building additional medical office space at Veridian in a possible second phase, the documents indicate.

Bob Burk, managing partner of UrbanStreet Group, the master developer of the 225-acre Veridian development, said Tuesday the hospital project involves about 8½ acres his firm sold along the tollway and just south of Topgolf, but which it's no longer directly involved with.

"We're really excited, but we don't have much to do with it," Burk said of the prospective project.

Schaumburg Village Manager Brian Townsend said the village has not received any formal application for zoning approvals for the site. Some informal meetings have taken place with representatives of the project, but nothing that would enable the village to characterize any details of what may be envisioned, he added.

The state regulatory agency board, which reviews and approves the construction and expansion of health care facilities, is set to consider the proposal July 19.

The application submission was formally made by Northwest Community and Evanston-based NorthShore University HealthSystem, which merged with the Arlington Heights hospital in 2021. NorthShore recently merged with Edward-Elmhurst Health.

If approved, construction would be funded through private borrowing and completed in March 2025, officials said.

• Daily Herald staff writer Eric Peterson contributed to this report.