More details of Union Village health care complex are unveiled

By Conor Shine

Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012 | 10:30 p.m.

Curious Henderson residents living near the proposed site of the multibillion-dollar Union Village health care complex have more details on what the project will entail after its leaders presented the city with a development agreement Tuesday night.

The 60-plus page document outlines how the 150-acre “integrated health village” will be built and provides specifics on what it will look like, including details such as the total square footage, the number of hospitals, the number of parking spaces, the number of helipads and the number of taverns.

“It lets us know what it looks like,” said Director of Utility Services Dennis Porter, who is overseeing the city’s involvement in the project. “Everybody’s excited about (Union Village), but we want to know what’s going to be in the project. For the purposes of the people who live around there, they want to know what’s going to be in there too.”

The $1.5 billion Union Village development, which will be built on 150 acres near U.S. 95 and Galleria Drive, was first announced in April 2011. The privately funded project is massive in scope — four hospitals; 1,000 residential units for senior living; and hundreds of thousands of square feet of medical office space built into a mixed-use development that would also include restaurants, shopping, hotels and a movie theater.

The project is the first of its kind in the country and aims to create a convenient, connected location for people seeking medical care, whether it’s cancer treatment, acute care or physical therapy.

The development agreement was presented for public comment Tuesday night during a city council meeting. The council will have the opportunity to approve the agreement during its next meeting on Sept. 18.

Union Village partner David Baker, who was at Tuesday’s meeting, said the approval of the development agreement will allow the developers to close the $11.6 million land sale and prepare to begin construction on the site.

“If all goes well, we anticipate getting this approved, buying the property and then we’ll have a groundbreaking announcement,” he said. “We hope that by the end of the year there will be some sticks coming out of the ground.”