A Major Loyola University Building Is Taking Shape. Here’s the Latest Construction Progress

ROGERS PARK— One of the biggest changes underway on Loyola University Chicago’s lakefront campus is becoming much easier to see from Sheridan Road.

New construction photographs published October 20 show the future home of the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and College of Arts and Sciences rising several levels above ground at 1144 W. Loyola Avenue. Crews are progressing across the third level, with the structure reaching the underside of the fourth floor at the southern end of the site.

Loyola describes the building as a seven-story, approximately 195,000-square-foot nursing and sciences facility stretching along the east side of Sheridan Road between Loyola and Albion avenues. The university expects it to be completed in fall 2028.

For Rogers Park, this is more than another campus construction project. It is part of Loyola’s longer-term effort to expand its physical footprint while reinforcing a part of the neighborhood where student life, transit, local businesses and Lake Michigan already meet within a few blocks.

Construction Has Moved Well Above Street Level

The difference from earlier this year is significant.

Foundation work began after the project received its initial permit in January 2026, following the demolition of the former Campion Hall residence. By May, crews were still working largely below grade. In September, the project had only recently reached its first level above ground.

Now, Power Construction is building upward from south to north across the site.

Progress on the Loyola University campus has risen to the third level for the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the College of Arts and Sciences. | Photo by: Daniel Schell

Chicago YIMBY’s latest photographs show concrete columns, floor plates and cores extending through the structure, with work approaching the fourth-floor level near Loyola Avenue. The project also received approval for full construction in July.

Woodhouse Tinucci Architects designed the building, which will occupy nearly the full Sheridan Road block between Loyola and Albion.

That scale is important. This is not a small classroom addition hidden within the existing campus. It is becoming a major new presence along one of the busiest streets surrounding Loyola.

What Will Be Inside the New Building?

The project is designed to bring together programs from Loyola’s Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and College of Arts and Sciences in one facility.

Plans include new classrooms, advanced chemistry research laboratories, community gathering spaces and a major anatomy simulation facility. Roughly 40,000 square feet of space is planned below grade, according to the recent construction update.

The additional space comes as Loyola’s nursing program is expanding.

The university welcomed its largest-ever BSN class in fall 2026, with more than 400 students, representing nearly 54% growth in first-year enrollment over two years. Loyola says the new building will provide additional classroom and simulation capacity as that program grows.

So while the concrete structure is the most visible change right now, the larger purpose is capacity.

Loyola has said its existing campus facilities are not large enough to accommodate its growing student, faculty and staff population, and its broader campus plan is intended to create more space for teaching, research and community life over the coming decade.

Why the Sheridan Road Location Matters

The building sits directly in one of the most active parts of the Lake Shore Campus.

The Loyola Red Line station is nearby at 1200 W. Loyola Avenue, providing 24-hour Red Line access between the North Side and Downtown. CTA also lists a connection to the #147 Outer DuSable Lake Shore Express at the station.

Walk east and the campus reaches Lake Michigan. Continue north through Rogers Park and the neighborhood offers restaurants, independent businesses, theater, public art and residential streets that range from vintage courtyard buildings to condos and single-family homes.

Loyola Beach adds another dimension. Located within Loyola Park, it includes a nearly two-thirds-mile lakefront walking trail, giving residents and students direct access to public shoreline recreation.

That combination helps explain why this part of Rogers Park can feel different from a more isolated university district.

The campus is woven directly into the surrounding neighborhood.

Campus Growth Can Change the Blocks Around It Too

Loyola’s expansion does not stop at the edge of its academic buildings.

The university has previously worked with private development and retail partners around the Lake Shore Campus, including mixed-use projects near Sheridan Road and Loyola Station. Its current campus-planning effort also specifically includes engagement with residents in Rogers Park and Edgewater about how the university and surrounding community should evolve together.

That relationship is worth watching as the new nursing and sciences facility moves toward completion.

More students and faculty using this section of campus can mean additional daily foot traffic around Sheridan Road, Loyola Avenue and the Red Line station. Restaurants, coffee shops and neighborhood services already operate in an environment shaped partly by the university population.

But the impact is not limited to businesses.

For nearby residents, campus growth can influence how busy streets and sidewalks feel, where construction occurs and how the boundary between university property and residential blocks functions.

That does not automatically make the changes positive or negative for every homeowner.

It simply means that anyone considering a move near a major institutional campus should understand both what exists today and what is actively being built nearby.

What Happens Next at Loyola?

The new building is now clearly in its vertical construction phase, but substantial work remains.

Once the concrete structure reaches its full height, crews will still need to complete the exterior enclosure, laboratories, classrooms, simulation spaces and building systems before the facility can welcome students.

Loyola’s current target is fall 2028.

That makes the October construction update an important milestone rather than the finish line.

What used to be the Campion Hall site is already becoming one of the most visible pieces of Loyola’s next generation of campus facilities.

And over the next two years, residents traveling along Sheridan Road will be able to watch that transformation happen floor by floor.

Considering Rogers Park or Chicago’s North Side?

For buyers and relocation clients, large institutions such as Loyola can shape the everyday experience of surrounding blocks through transit, businesses, pedestrian activity, public spaces and ongoing development.

The Cory Tanzer Group at Option Premier helps buyers evaluate both the property itself and the neighborhood around it, including nearby development, transportation, housing options and everyday amenities across Chicago and the North Shore.

Understanding what is under construction now can be just as useful as knowing what is already there.

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