Why Springwoods' Next Big User is a Hospital

Friday, CHI St. Luke’s Health announced it purchased 23 acres in Springwoods Village, where it will develop a medical campus. It seems every master-planned community in Houston today is including a healthcare district, and Springwoods developer CDC Houston EVP Keith Simon tells us why. (The only thing you can't master-plan for is people getting the flu or falling off their bikes, or both at the same time.)

Keith is definitely seeing the trend of healthcare embedded into master-planned communities picking up in Houston, although CDC has been doing it for 12 years. (That's when it put Sky Ridge Medical Center into its RidgeGate community in Denver.) He says the draw is twofold. First, hospitals are great employers. (Besides doctors, nurses, tech, and support staffs, they are also pretty much the only people who hire clowns anymore.) Here in Houston, it's the second-most dominant industry behind oil and gas. (And Keith's thrilled to have both represented in the early stages of Springwoods.) And then of course, it's an amenity to residents and employees; Keith says integrating healthcare into Springwoods Village is an important part of its overall vision and creating a complete community.

CHI St. Luke's campus will include a 55k SF ambulatory medical center and 100k SF MOB with space for more than 30 physicians (if you're looking for a place with a highly concentrated level of ego), an initial investment of $110M. The facility, which will deliver late next year, will sit at the corner of the Grand Parkway and Holzworth Road. Keith tells us the spot is sort of unique—it provides great access for people in the greater region, but is also walkable from homes, hotels, and the Town Center. It's also along Springwoods' linear park system, so healthcare employees and visitors can take a nice break from the hospital atmosphere.

Here's Keith with Walter P Moore's Charlie Penland and Gensler's Rives Taylor, who have handled design on Springwoods Village. CHI St. Luke's will continue to invest $70M more over the next five years; its master plan includes a future hospital. Keith says CDC might grow its healthcare district around CHI St. Luke's, but it wouldn't bring any competitors in. Rather, they might emulate RidgeGate, bringing in top-of-the-line specialists like fertility docs to create what they call a "medical center of excellence." As far as Springwoods Village goes, his next big announcement will be for Town Center; in a few months, he'll get to share the names of retailers and the hotel brand.

Interested in this healthcare trend? Check out our Healthcare Real Estate summit tomorrow! Register here.