Mundelein approves development deal for $30 million nursing home
A development agreement for a new $30 million nursing home has been approved by Mundelein's village board.
The proposed Transitional Care of Lake County facility is set to replace the Winchester House nursing home in Libertyville. That facility was run by Lake County for decades but has been privately operated for more than five years.
The new nursing home will be built on Route 45 east of Route 83, on Mundelein's south side. The roughly 13-acre, undeveloped site is between the Dover Straits restaurant and a long-vacant commercial building.
Plans call for construction to start this summer and for the facility to open in 2018.
Village officials approved the deal Monday. They're excited about the project.
"We all need to do what we can for our aging citizens, which includes our parents and ourselves in the not-too distant future," Trustee Ray Semple said.
Mundelein's location in central Lake County makes it "an ideal place" for the new facility, Semple added.
Winchester House opened as Lake County's poor farm in 1847. The current building dates to 1942, although there was an addition in the 1970s.
Lake County owns the building, but private companies have run the nursing home since 2011. Officials said multimillion-dollar losses made operating Winchester House financially untenable.
Transitional Care Management leases the building and equipment from the county. As part of that pact, the company agreed to build a new facility at a different site in Lake County by May 2018, and it settled on Mundelein.
The proposed 93,340-square-foot building will have room for 185 patients who need long-term nursing home care, rehabilitation services or Alzheimer's care.
Trustee Holly Kim believes the facility will provide an economic boost for the restaurants and stores around it. Staff, volunteers and patients' relatives will visit those businesses, she said.
The resulting sales tax could help fund any increase in police and fire department service that result from the facility's presence, Kim said.
As part of the development deal, land will be set aside for construction of a public street that will connect Route 45 with Route 60 to the north. If built, the road will run through what's now the Oak Creek Plaza shopping center, Village Administrator John Lobaito said.
In addition to approving the development agreement, Mundelein trustees formally requested their staff draft a special use permit and zoning changes that will allow the nursing home to operate. Votes on those will be held later.