Scope of planned hospital campus on Mesa grows to 80 acres; meeting Nov. 30

Scope of planned hospital campus on Mesa grows to 80 acres; meeting Nov. 30

A drawing shows the currently approved concept plan for the 51-acre Penrose-St. Francis Health Services campus northeast of Fillmore Street and Centennial Boulevard. The area shown as "PBC Zone District" at lower left is the Grandview Market Place shopping center anchored by King Soopers. The 28.55-acre Martin-Marietta asphalt batch plant property, facing onto Fillmore, is just to the right (east) of the current hospital property (with the words "zone district" in the middle).

Courtesy of RTA Architects

A 28.55-acre property now used to make asphalt could be added to the Penrose-St. Francis Health Services hospital campus that's already been conceptually approved on 51.05 acres northeast of Centennial Boulevard and Fillmore Street.
       A neighborhood meeting on the increased project scope has been called Wednesday, Nov. 30, to include representatives of City Planning and the regional health organization. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Coronado High School cafeteria, 1590 W. Filllmore St.
       According to Michael Schultz, the city planner assigned to the project, Penrose-St. Francis has a contract to purchase the long-time asphalt batch-plant site. It is currently owned by Martin-Marietta Materials, which purchased it from the LaFarge company in 2011 for $2.3 million. It's downhill from the 51-acre property, just to the east, facing onto Fillmore.
       Penrose-St. Francis has a six-month “due diligence period to buy it,” Schultz said in an e-mail. “These details will likely be presented at the neighborhood meeting.”
       Asked for a comment, Penrose-St. Francis provided a written statement that with the purchase, the goal will be “to create an approximately 80-acre parcel of land" for what will be a "world-class medical campus." It elaborates that the additional acreage “would give our architects more flexibility with the site design to explore various options while preserving natural amenities.”
       The development of the site will take place over the next five to seven years, the statement clarifies.

A Martin-Marietta truck delivers asphalt for Fillmore Street above I-25 during the Colorado Department of Transportation interchange replacement project that was finished last summer. The company's batch plant is about a half-mile to the west, up Fillmore, but the site could become part of the planned Penrose-St. Francis hospital campus.

Westside Pioneer photo

       Folding in the additional acreage would require fresh reviews by the City Planning Commission and City Council, the Penrose-St. Francis statement notes.
       A rezoning of the batch-plant site would be part of that, Schulz said.
       In November 2015, City Council - following Planning Commission's favorable recommendation - conceptually approved Penrose-St. Francis' requests for the 51 acres. This consisted of a zone change, concept plan and master-plan amendment for a medical campus with a potentially 12-story, 200-foot-high hospital and two other buildings of about 65 feet in height, with the main entrance from Centennial.
       The majority of councilmembers perceived the project as a community enhancement, with added benefits including improved drainage, landslide protections and stabilizing of a property known to have received “undocumented fill” for many years. Some opponents questioned the 200-foot height allowance when the maximum height allowed elsewhere in the Centennial/Fillmore area is 45 feet.
       The Martin-Marietta batch plant provides asphalt for much of the area's roadwork, including the recently completed Fillmore/I-25 interchange project.

Westside Pioneer article
(Posted 11/18/16; Land: Development Proposals)

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