Redevelopment of former hospital: New Hopewell neighborhood edges forward with $142K in changes

Pouring concrete near the northern edge of Hopewell Phase 1 East. (July 1, 2024)

The view of the Phase 1 Hopewell East property from Rogers Street, looking east. (July 1, 2024)

Across the B-Line Trail from the Seminary Square Kroger, construction work on the Phase 1 East portion of the Hopewell neighborhood project has been underway for about a year, after ground was broken in the third week of July 2023.

The work by Milestone Contractors involves the installation of utilities, construction of streets, and creation of landscaping and bicycle-pedestrian facilities for one piece of a new neighborhood called Hopewell, which is supposed to replace the former IU Health hospital and surrounding area.

The installation of the infrastructure that’s now underway is supposed to set up the real estate for an eventual public offering for sale to developers. The idea is that the new neighborhood could support up to 1,000 housing units.

The Phase 1 East infrastructure project is now on course to be complete on Nov. 4, the day before the general election.

On Monday at its regular meeting, Bloomington’s redevelopment commission gave approval for $142,981 in change orders, which brought the total value of the contract with Milestone to $13,695,491.

The original contract was for $13,373,285. The total of $322,206 in change orders is about 2.4 percent of the total contract.

The public offering for South Hopewell, which is a part of the project south of 1st Street, was already made, in October of 2023. But the October round of offerings did not produce any proposals that the city accepted.

At Monday’s RDC meeting, Deb Kunce with JS Held, the city’s project manager for Hopewell, and Jane Kupersmith, Bloomington’s director for economic and sustainable development, indicated a second try at offerings for South Hopewell would be made sometime in July.

The area for the Hopewell Phase 1 East project is bounded by 2nd Street to the north, 1st Street to the south, The B-Line Trail to the east, and Rogers Street to the west. It’s called Phase 1 East in the master plan for the development of the site.

One notable change involved the undercuts in University Street, which added $53,800 to the project budget, due to the discovery of “unsuitable soil” in the subgrade.

University Street is being built as a new east-west street, cutting the block in half, at about the same latitude as University Street farther to the east. Internal to Hopewell, University Street is conceived as a greenway street.

The installation of new buried power conduits, necessary to provide electrical power to the transformer and a new park, resulted in an additional $38,757. Additional power conduits were installed under the new infrastructure to service the Hopewell East lots, costing $25,439.

Other changes included the removal of a large, unnecessary storm sewer culvert, which added $19,222.

A video inspection of the newly installed storm and sanitary sewers added $3,748 to the expenses.

Modifications to the Centerstone wall and entrance also required increasing the project cost by $1,500. Addressing the burial of an existing gas main in Morton Street resulted in a slight increase of $515.

Bloomington’s RDC is paying for the Hopewell redevelopment project from TIF (tax increment finance) funds.

Hopewell’s Phase 1 East project is also the planned location of a $100,000 piece of public art, with a design that is yet to be determined.

Four finalists have submitted proposals for the public art installation for Hopewell Commons.

A selection from the four designs will be made by the Bloomington art commission (BAC). The city of Bloomington has asked for public feedback on the four designs.