Cook County Announces Two Separate Development Initiatives to Advance Innovation, Housing, and Economic Growth
Cook County, IL - This month, Cook County announced two distinct real estate initiatives aimed at transforming underutilized County-owned land into new centers of innovation, affordable housing, and long-term community investment. The two efforts—the Request for Information (RFI) for the Harrison Square Innovation Development and the Request for Proposals (RFP) for redevelopment of 2840–2844 W. Fullerton Avenue—are separate projects with independent scopes, timelines, and processes.
The Harrison Square RFI seeks market ideas for repurposing land in the Illinois Medical District, surrounding the Cook County Health Stroger Hospital campus. The County is inviting developers, investors, healthcare and life sciences institutions, research organizations, and other partners to provide concepts for transforming the site into an engine of innovation and economic activity. The County has not identified a preferred development concept and is instead seeking market-driven recommendations on potential uses, scale, phasing, partnerships, and financing structures. Responses to the RFI will inform whether and how a future project may proceed and are due Thursday, November 19, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. Central Time.
Separately, the Cook County Department of Real Estate and Management (DREM) has issued an RFP to select a qualified developer to transform County-owned property at 2840–2844 W. Fullerton Avenue into a new mixed-use, 100% affordable housing development. This initiative is unrelated to the Harrison Square RFI and follows a formal procurement process guided by federal HUD requirements and state and local regulations. Situated in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood near major transit and amenities, the 0.21-acre site is suited for a mid-rise development that could support approximately 60 affordable residential units, depending on design and zoning approvals. The RFP seeks developers with experience in community engagement, entitlement management, sustainable and accessible design, environmental compliance, financing strategies such as Low Income Housing Tax Credits, and long-term operations for income-restricted housing. Responses from Section 3 businesses as well as woman- and minority-owned firms.
This pair of independent efforts reflects Cook County’s broad commitment to leveraging public land responsibly in ways that expand economic opportunity, meet community housing needs, and strategically reposition assets across communities. More information, including the RFI, RFP and instructions for submission, can be found at Open Calls.
For questions regarding the Harrison Square RFI, please contact BAMRFI@cookcountyil.gov, and for questions regarding the Logan Square RFP, please contact BAMRFP@cookcountyil.gov.