Legacy expects to hear this Friday if the state approves of its plan. Approval will come in the form of a 'certificate of need." If Legacy clears that hurdle, it can then go to the Clark County commissioners and request its project be declared a 'facility of regional significance,' which would allow Legacy to continue moving through the project approval process despite a traffic-based building moratorium.
Joseph Kunkel, Legacy's senior project coordinator, tells GlobeSt.com his company would still have to mitigate the traffic problem--which probably means spending several million dollars--but it would concurrently be able to seek building approvals and remain on schedule.
Kunkel says Legacy is also seeking a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to fill and relocate some wetlands on the property. The lack of a permit wouldn't stop the whole project, he says, just the portion of the project that would be built on the wetlands.
Legacy wants to build the hospital in the Vancouver area because it is the one of the fastest growing markets in the region. Its competition is Southwest Washington Medical Center, which has had a hospital monopoly in the Vancouver area for a long while and would like to keep it that way by getting approval to expand its own hospital instead, for which it, too, hads requested a certificate of need.
Legacy bought its land for the project in December, paying $9.7 million to owner Alexandria Investments of Bellevue, WA. Legacy optioned the property in early November, shortly after Costco Wholesale Corp.'s option for the property ran out. Kirkland, WA-based Costco wanted to build one of its warehouse stores on the site, but in September saw its application to build a 148,000-sf store denied because of the traffic problems it would create.
A building moratorium was imposed by the city shortly thereafter that could last a year. Legacy, however, likes the property much better than a 13-acre property it secured for the project last summer, and is more than willing to wait. "Its size gives us far more flexibility and still coincides with our schedule," a source with the company told GlobeSt.com in December, "which is to break ground in late 2003 and end up with a hospital by 2005."
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
