Real estate sources confirmed on Wednesday persistent rumors that St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System will build a new hospital and medical office building in Sugar Land.
The complex is planned for Lake Pointe Town Center at State Highway 6 and U.S. Highway 59 in Sugar Land.
The developer for the new St. Luke’s hospital, MediStar Corp. of Houston, purchased 13 acres for a 110,000-square-foot medical office building, an 81- to 100-bed hospital and a parking garage. Construction is scheduled to start this fall.
The deal was confirmed by MediStar, the Greater Fort Bend Economic Development Council and the developer for Lake Pointe Town Center. However, a St. Luke’s spokeswoman declined to comment because, she said, the deal was “premature.”
“People want to have their health care close to home,” said Peggy Kircher of Aspen Consulting Group, a Houston-based health care consulting firm. “Sugar Land’s demographics have changed. It’s not just a commuter city; it’s where people live and work. People want to have their babies there and their health care there. It’s what they expect.”
St. Luke’s is the latest Houston-based hospital system to expand into Fort Bend County. Memorial Hermann is building a $94 million hospital and medical building on a 27-acre parcel at U.S. 59 and Grand Parkway. Construction of the 77-bed hospital started in January 2005, and the opening is planned for December 2006.
Memorial is relocating to this Sugar Land site from its current location in Missouri City, at FM 1092 and Highway 6 South.
Memorial is also building a professional building adjacent to the new hospital, set to open next month. This building will include a number of services including a lab, diagnostic imaging, outpatient surgery, sleep lab and a sports medicine center.
Meanwhile, Methodist Sugar Land Hospital is building a major expansion next to its existing 54-bed, 105,000-square-foot hospital at U.S. 59 and Sweetwater Boulevard. Set for completion in 2008, the $150 million expansion will add two six-story buildings, or 345,000 square feet of space, and triple the hospital’s beds from 54 to 170. Methodist is also building a $20 million medical office building near the hospital.
Houston’s Medical Center heavyweights are reaching out to Fort Bend County because they realize “they have to come to you to deliver service,” Kircher said.
At the same time other hospitals are expanding here, another health care chain decided to put its plans for a Fort Bend location on hold. Christus Health Gulf Coast had announced plans for a hospital and 80,000-square-foot medical office building in Sienna Plantation. Christus owns 36 acres at the southeast corner of Sienna Parkway and Highway 6.
Christus originally planned to build a 100-bed hospital employing 350 people, and eventually to expand it to add 200 more patient beds and full medical services, according to home builders at Sienna Plantation. Rumors of the St. Luke’s hospital and the Memorial and Methodist projects caused Christus to rethink the timing of the project, a Christus official said.
Christus is downsizing, Kircher said, and the decision to hold off on the Sienna Plantation project may be more of a reflection of the company than the market. In March, Christus announced the sale of the historic Houston Christus St. Joseph Hospital to Hospital Partners of America in Charlotte, N.C.
Lake Pointe Town Center is a 190-acre mixed-use project under construction near the existing Fluor Corp. headquarters in Sugar Land. Being developed by Planned Community Developers LTD., Lake Pointe will include more than 1 million square feet of office and medical space, 140 townhomes and brownstones, 150 patio homes, 100 condominiums and 225,000 square feet of retail space.
The complex is planned for Lake Pointe Town Center at State Highway 6 and U.S. Highway 59 in Sugar Land.
The developer for the new St. Luke’s hospital, MediStar Corp. of Houston, purchased 13 acres for a 110,000-square-foot medical office building, an 81- to 100-bed hospital and a parking garage. Construction is scheduled to start this fall.
The deal was confirmed by MediStar, the Greater Fort Bend Economic Development Council and the developer for Lake Pointe Town Center. However, a St. Luke’s spokeswoman declined to comment because, she said, the deal was “premature.”
