The Hinsdale Planning Commission on Nov. 13 approved exterior appearance and site-plan review for a proposed Illinois Bone and Joint Institute ambulatory surgery center at 550 West Ogden Avenue, authorizing the project with conditions to strengthen landscaping and to limit overnight lighting.

The applicant team told commissioners the new facility will expand local surgical capacity from four operating rooms to six and shift high-volume clinic traffic away from the current Ogden clinic. "So the goal is to build an ambulatory surgery center, go from 4 operating rooms to 6 operating rooms," said Dr. Jason Herbenek, managing partner of IBJI’s Hinsdale division. Project representatives said the design buries most staff parking—58 spaces under the building—with 38 surface spaces remaining, and reduces site impervious surface by about 10,000 square feet to improve stormwater performance.

In a lengthy presentation and question-and-answer session, the design-build lead, Nick Tomasi of BBL Medical Facility, described parking and site circulation solutions and emphasized concealment of mechanical equipment. "Because of having just under 2 acres there, we were able to kind of solve the parking need by burying a portion of the 96 spaces that we have allotted on the site underneath the building," Tomasi said. He and other presenters walked commissioners through curb cuts, a patient drop-off canopy, and plans to screen generators and dumpsters with a metal panel enclosure and landscaping.

Neighbors and commissioners pressed for additional screening and design tweaks. Commissioners noted the site faces residential neighborhoods to the south and a nursing facility at the Pearl of Hinsdale to the west. The applicant agreed to add ornamental and evergreen screening, fine-tune native-grass plantings inside stormwater depressions, and work with staff during final engineering to finalize details. Commissioners also sought assurance about generator testing times; the applicant said weekly generator tests can be scheduled during daytime hours to limit nighttime disturbance.

The commission attached conditions that require the applicant to incorporate the neighbors’ recommended small adjustments to the landscape plan near the south driveway, to add native planting to the stormwater area as part of the final engineering and permitting process, and to switch to security-level, shielded exterior lighting after hours. The motion to approve passed on a roll-call vote.

Construction timing and operational details recorded in the public record include a target construction start in March 2026 and a construction schedule of roughly 13 months (through about April 2027). The project team confirmed that the facility will use a packaged diesel generator with a belly fuel tank sized to meet 24-hour run requirements; testing will be scheduled to avoid late-night disturbance.

The commission’s approval allows the project to proceed to permit review, with final landscape and lighting details to be set as part of engineering and future sign/lighting permits. Commissioners said they appreciated the applicant’s neighbor outreach and the project’s efforts to reduce traffic and improve site stormwater performance.