Carle Says It Will Build Office Complex at I-57 and Curtis Road Interchange
Drawing of the Carle at The Fields project planned for construction at the I-57 Curtis Road Interchange. Carle Foundation
After years of waiting, major project has been announced for the I-57 Curtis Road Interchange south of Champaign. The Carle Foundation says it will open Carle at The Fields on the northwest corner of the interchange in 2017. The complex will consolidate office space that Carle has leased around Champaign and Urbana for support services for its Carle Foundation Hospital and its Health Alliance subsidiary.
These include office locations in Champaign’s North Prospect shopping district, and in downtown Urbana --- including the Health Alliance offices at the Lincoln Square mall. Carle says its foundation board of trustees approved the project last month.
A news release from Carle says the office consolidation will save them “millions”.. Carle president and CEO James Leonard says “We’re excited about what we can accomplish when we bring our various teams together in one location. This is a move that will help preserve resources in the long run and allow us to continue improving for patients and members.”
In addition, Carle officials say the move will enable them to make better use of their space on their Urbana campus, home of Carle Hospital and the main offices of the Carle Physicians Group.
“The move will be helpful to those who have expressed interest in alleviating parking and other pressures,” said Carle vice president for Facilities and Services Scott Harding, in Carle’s news release.
Carle says in its news release that the move from leased space to the new Carle at The Fields building will “have no direct impact on property tax revenue as the building owners have always paid taxes on those locations”.
Carle says it must still obtain local permits for the new project. After that’s done, construction of Carle at The Fields is scheduled to begin later this year, with completion in 2017.
Local officials have long had hopes that the Curtis Road interchange on I-57 could become a site for major development, but the location has remain undeveloped. Christie Clinic announced plans in 2009 to build a facility at the interchange, but those plans never came to fruition.