Swedish executive Kevin Brown says the Highlands has been its preferred site because of location, access and existing infrastructure. The company previously had an option on the property "that was open-ended and did not formally bind either party to close the transaction," a company source tells GlobeSt.com. "We will close on at least one of the parcels in March 2008 and the balance by September 2009."
Swedish also considered the 30-acre Gateway site along I-90, next to the Sammamish Club. Brown says that property was equally good but not as far along in the development process as the Highlands site. "Because [the Highlands site] is part of a larger development, all the basic infrastructure is already in place, allowing us to quickly advance our planning efforts," he says. "It is a site that is easily accessible and convenient for area residents, business people and anyone driving through that stretch of Interstate."
Mahlum Architects will complete the first phase of programming and master-site planning for the estimated $200-million hospital and health complex. Swedish plans to start construction in 2010 and open the first phase of the 175-bed facility with a minimum of 80 beds in 2012. By that time, Issaquah Highlands is slated to have roughly 3,900 homes, 3.8 million sf of office, commercial and retail uses, schools, a fire station, parks, trails and other community facilities.
Swedish's announcement about its would-be development site comes despite an appeal by its competitors over the state's approval of the project. Swedish won approval for the project in June from the state Department Health. The decision came after two appeals by Swedish to reverse the agency's original denial of its application.
Swedish filed its original application with the state in 2004. Overlake Hospital and Medical Center filed a similar application shortly thereafter. The state denied both applications in 2005, saying there was no need for a hospital based on its count of available beds in the region. Swedish and Overlake both appealed and an administrative law judge upheld the state's original decision.
While Overlake stopped there, Swedish appealed again, arguing that the state should not have included in its count 132 beds from Group Health Eastside Hospital in Redmond because it was scheduled to be closed in 2008. King County Superior Court Judge Bruce Hilyer agreed and remanded the decision back to the state, resulting in the June approval.
Four regional hospital operators subsequently filed a joint appeal of the decision, arguing that the state's approval concentrates too many hospital beds in one part of the Eastside. A weeklong hearing is scheduled for March. The operators are Overlake, Evergreen Hospital Medical Center in Kirkland, Snoqualmie Valley Hospital in Snoqualmie and Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center in Seattle. Swedish could appeal the decision if it goes against them.
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