On the former IU Health Bloomington Hospital grounds, the swings are already in use and the streets have names, but there are still no houses. Hopewell Commons opened in April 2025. Two lanes that haven't been paved yet were named by a public vote in September. The 98 homes planned between them are still working through permits.
The order makes sense once you know who owns the land. The Bloomington Redevelopment Commission, part of city government, owns Hopewell South. It filed the zoning petition and the plat itself. So each step on the site has gone through a public meeting, a vote, and a public comment period. That makes Hopewell slower to build than a private subdivision, and it also gives neighbors more chances to weigh in. The next chance is Tuesday, Oct. 27.
The park came first because the city holds the land
Hopewell Commons sits at 630 S. Morton St. It covers 2.45 acres next to the B-Line Trail, just west of the Seminary Square Kroger. The park has a "log scramble" play structure, shaded picnic tables, bench swings, a small performance stage, an artificial lawn, ping pong tables, and temporary pickleball courts. Groups can reserve the stage with a Park Special Use Permit through the city.
Bloomington Parks and Recreation has been part of the redevelopment since 2021. It worked with the city's Engineering Department and Rundell Ernstberger Associates to design the Commons as an anchor for the future neighborhood. A private developer usually builds the houses first and adds amenities later. Here the city put the public space down first and is filling in around it.
This summer the Commons also held Tuesday Market, the weekday edition of the Bloomington Community Farmers' Market. It opened June 2 and ran from 4 to 7 p.m. The market doubled SNAP benefits: every $3 in SNAP got shoppers $6 in Market Bucks. The season runs June through September, and the city's market page now says the 2026 market has ended for the year. The pickleball courts and ping pong tables stay open in the meantime. On fall weekdays, the park is mostly what it was built to be, a neighborhood park waiting for its neighborhood.
How 98 homes got approved, one public vote at a time
Hopewell South covers about 6.3 acres at and around the old hospital site. Its custom zoning allows up to 98 homes. Without that zoning and any extra approvals, the land would hold roughly 28. City Council's approval requires at least 35% of the homes to be permanently affordable, with a goal of 50%.
The plan didn't start out city-led. Bloomington first looked for private developers. After a second offering drew two proposals, the RDC rejected both in June 2025. It switched to a model built on smaller builders, pre-approved house designs, and city coordination of the overall project. Every one of the votes since then has been public:
| Date | Body | Action |
|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | Redevelopment Commission | Authorized the Hopewell South zoning filing |
| February 2026 | Plan Commission | Unanimously recommended the zoning |
| May 6, 2026 | City Council | Approved the zoning 9–0 after four postponements |
| June 1, 2026 | Redevelopment Commission | Accepted council conditions, authorized plats and permits |
| Aug. 10, 2026 | Plan Commission | Approved the primary plat 8–1 |
| Sept. 16, 2026 | City Council | Passed Resolution 2026-19, 7–0, toward a Hopewell South residential TIF area |
The August plat split the land into 65 lots: 62 for homes, two common areas, and one holding the former Bloomington Convalescent Center at 714 S. Rogers St. Most of that meeting went to a small detail with real consequences on the street. The city had proposed adding on-street parking along 1st Street, which would have moved the tree plot so the trees sat on the far side of the sidewalk. Three councilmembers objected that the change broke a condition the council had set. The city's legal staff agreed, and the RDC withdrew the request before the vote. The recently rebuilt 1st Street, with its new street trees, stays as approved.
The commissioners' comments that night show the tension in a city-run project:
"We need housing. This whole process has been micromanaged and taken way too long. We have a great plan before us." Plan commissioner Chris Smith
"It's really important to us to get this affordable housing built and built as soon as possible." Mayor Kerry Thomson
Hopi Stosberg, the council's appointee to the commission, cast the only no vote. She said the meeting packet lacked written drainage sign-off from City of Bloomington Utilities, and that the city shouldn't get different treatment from a private petitioner. Staff replied that the approval language requires utility sign-off before any permits are issued.
Heartwell and Possibility, named before they're paved
The two new lanes in Hopewell South got their names through a public process. Residents sent in more than 130 suggestions from Sept. 10 to 15, and the public vote on five finalists from Sept. 16 to 20 drew 288 voting responses. The northern lane will be W. Heartwell Lane. The southern lane will be W. Possibility Lane.
The resident who suggested Heartwell said it combines "heart" and "well," honoring the care and compassion tied to the old hospital site. The name came out on top for both lanes, taking 30.6% of the northern vote and 26% of the southern vote. The city placed it where its support was strongest and gave the southern lane to the runner-up there, Possibility, at 20.8%.
For anyone who worked in that hospital, or was a patient or visitor there, the name is a small, deliberate link to what the land used to be.
The 56,000-square-foot question at 714 S. Rogers
The biggest building left on the site is the former Bloomington Convalescent Center, at the southeast corner of the Hopewell project. On Sept. 14, the RDC voted 4–0 to support renovating and expanding it as the Bloomington Police Department's new headquarters. Central dispatch and possibly other uses could go there too.
The building is about 56,000 square feet. The department's current headquarters at 220 E. 3rd St. is about 21,000 square feet, and central dispatch at 322 E. 3rd St. is about 2,000. That's more than twice the space both operations use today. The design brief asks architects to recommend "shelling out" parts of the building that police don't need, as a way to cut costs. Mayor Thomson said a bigger building shouldn't be read as a plan to grow the police force dramatically.
The choice drew public comment. A resident who lives about a quarter-mile away and the city's former assistant director for the arts both pointed to a 2022 feasibility study by Trahan Architects. That study recommended the building for artist studios, shared workshops, and performance space. City economic development director Jane Kupersmith agreed the need for arts space remains. She noted that a READI grant includes an arts incubator with 12 artist studios at the former Showers administration building. The mayor described a large public meeting, a neighborhood association meeting, and five rounds of door-to-door visits. The city said it is staying in touch with the McDoel Gardens Neighborhood Association and Prospect Hill neighbors.
Here's the schedule as of Oct. 5:
- Optional site tours for architecture firms on Oct. 13 and Oct. 16.
- Proposals due by 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 6, with a construction budget capped at $30 million.
- No set date for selection after that. Commissioners removed the draft's November interview dates and Dec. 7 contract date.
- Programming and schematic design targeted for Feb. 1, 2027, then budget validation by March 1 and an RDC budget vote on March 15.
The financing isn't settled either. The Sept. 14 resolution said the RDC is willing to look into up to $30 million in bonds backed by tax increment financing, but it didn't authorize any bonds. That would take a separate RDC resolution and City Council approval. The city has located only partial drawings of the building, so the structural investigation is one of the architect's first jobs.
The parts that are still forecasts
Several Hopewell dates you may have seen were published as predictions:
- Hopewell South infrastructure. Permitting was expected from August through October, bidding in November, and then construction of all streets, sidewalks, and roadway changes in a single phase.
- The first three homes. A June update said three western lots were moving ahead on their own track, with builders hoped for by August or September, foundations possibly before winter, and completion by early 2027. Those were hopes at the time, not confirmed awards or start dates.
- The Kohr Building. The city and the Bloomington Housing Authority are converting this former hospital building into 38 income-restricted rental homes. In May the city said it was expected to open this summer, so check for a current update before treating it as open.
- Hopewell East. This is the four-block area between Rogers and Morton streets and First and Second streets. The RDC rejected all five bids in November 2025 and expected a new offering sometime in 2026.
Each of those depends on a decision that hasn't been made yet, and the city's next scheduled public update is on the calendar. Bloomington will host a meeting on Hopewell on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 5:30 p.m. at Bloomington First Church of the Nazarene, 700 W. Howe St. The city says it will post an agenda closer to the date. RDC executive director Anna Killion-Hanson said that meeting could also cover 714 S. Rogers.
Many of the people we work with spend their days in hospitals, so we've been watching closely as the old hospital campus turns back into a neighborhood. If you're a clinician new to Bloomington, or a family settling in near downtown, and want help understanding how changes like Hopewell might affect your commute and routines, MedMatch Realty Group is glad to talk it through. Reach Out Today.
