Expanding the scope and scale of Redmond’s ability to treat its valued community with the highest caliber of medical professionals, a new medical district plan is entering the final stages of development.
The Redmond Professional Business and Medical District Development Strategy emerged from the Redmond Urban Renewal Agency’s downtown planning efforts in 2011. In considering the proposal, the Redmond Urban Renewal Agency looked at and evaluated all of the potential parcels in Redmond’s city center for developmental viability with an eye towards aesthetics and ultimate environmental impact. Many options were proposed, including raw lots, vacant land and underutilized property.
“The intent of this evaluation was to see where opportunities existed to inject enthusiasm for development, private investment and job creation,” said Heather Richards, community development director for the City of Redmond. “In that process, it was discovered that there was a significant amount of unused land and underutilized property surrounding the St. Charles Redmond Hospital. With the health industry emerging as an explosive, high-growth job sector, and with Redmond’s efforts to stimulate more professional job development in the community, the Redmond Urban Renewal Agency elected to invest in a feasibility study of the district surrounding the St. Charles Redmond hospital with a mind towards what needs to happen to encourage private investment and job creation.”
Working with developers and property owners, including representatives from the hospital, city staff and a consultant team, the task force is committed to developing a plan to partner with the private sector towards that successful outcome. The development strategy will consist of a market analysis and planning effort as to what specific types of industries would be interested in locating in close proximity to the hospital and what they would need to help generate that interest – from both a planning perspective and an incentive perspective – from both the City of Redmond and the individual property owners. Current plans involve a multitude of various properties totally 78 acres.
“We are approaching this process with a private sector mindset to ensure that we are meeting the private sector’s needs,” she added.
The Redmond Urban Renewal Agency has $6 million dollars programmed to support development in this area and the development strategy will help inform the agency how to leverage that investment most effectively. A preliminary analysis shows that Redmond may be able to create 1,550 jobs through this process.
Richards expects to have the plan completed this July and the next step is to move forward based on the results of the study and its recommendations for prospective property sites and how the agency should effectively spend the funds that are set aside.
“We are extremely excited about this effort,” said Richards. “It is an opportunity for the public sector to partner with the private sector on job creation. The response to this effort has been tremendous, from both property owners and potential developers and it’s vital to engage and involve them as part of the dialog as it progresses. St. Charles Redmond Hospital is such a great asset for our community, and with this effort we want to make sure that not only are we meeting their requirements for future expansions, but are also leveraging that asset for our community.”
