Former Vaughan’s Building Cleared to Become Western Springs Medical Center

Residents who mourn at the sight of vacant buildings in Western Springs now have reason to rejoice. The path is now clear for the group Western Springs Medical Center Partners, LLC to convert the former Vaughan’s Garden Center (4700 Commonwealth Ave.) into offices, specifically for doctors and other medical practitioners.

The three-story building has been vacant since June of 2009. In early 2010, the group began scouting the building's potential to hold medical offices, and has been working ever since to make the idea a reality.

Offices constructed inside the building will be specifically designed for health care offices of various sorts. WSMC hopes that by filling the place with practicioners, a community will develop and referrals will be made within the building. They plan to have the offices ready for occupancy by early autumn.

“This location is great for a number of reasons, primarily because we will be within a mile and a half of two really strong hospitals,” said Brian Howard, one of WSMC’s partners. “You have really strong demographics in the Western Springs community and the adjoining communities, and there is a limited supply of class-A medical office buildings in this area.”

At a special brief Board of Trustees meeting called on Wednesday night, the board unanimously voted in an ordinance recognizing final approval of the construction. (One trustee, James Maragos, was absent.)

WSMC plans to not only perform a major revamping of the building’s interior, but also to build a second one-story building on the empty lot south of the existing structure. Additionally, they plan to expand the parking lot, improve the site’s flood and storm management and perform what WSMC broker Brian Edgerton called “a bit of a facelift” on the exterior of the center.

Sitework is scheduled to begin as soon as possible.

Howard called the project “an opportunity everyone will win on.”

“We’re going to bring a lot of staff, physicians and administrative folks to this location who will service the community, buy at the stores [and] eat at the restaurants,” Howard said. “It’s a vacant building just sitting there that we’re going to turn into something really nice and productive.”