‘Health village’ project targets Henderson

A developer Thursday unveiled plans for a $1.5 billion Henderson "health village" to include a new St. Rose hospital.

The master plan for the Union Village project calls for medical, residential, entertainment, cultural arts and specialty retail space, and a senior retirement community, on 171 acres east of U.S. Highway 95 and north of Galleria Drive.

The developer called it "the first integrated health village in the world" and said it would create 17,000 jobs -- direct, indirect and during construction -- and generate billions of dollars in tax revenue.

"This project is happening at exactly the right time, in the right place with the right people," said David Baker, a Southern California developer who is managing partner of Union Village. "Nevada is ground zero for the recession."

Henderson Mayor Andy Hafen praised the plan, saying it would help diversify the local economy by adding nongaming jobs.

"This is the good news we've been looking for in a bad economic time, a recession," Hafen said. "This is going to revitalize the economy."

The project will be privately financed, Baker said, but the developer will wait until the city approves it before deciding exactly how to fund it.

The group includes several partners, he said, including Juliet Companies and Penta Building Group in Las Vegas; the Nevada chapter of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations; Haskell, a Florida construction company; HKS, an international architectural firm based in Dallas; and Hammes, a Wisconsin health care consultant.

St. Rose Dominican Hospitals is the partner on the medical facilities in the development.

"Participating in a project of this size and scope is exciting in that it will allow us to expand the health care services we currently provide," Rob Davis, president and CEO of St. Rose Dominican Hospitals, said in a statement. He said the partnership would result in a new Rose de Lima campus.

With the hospital complex, dubbed Union Centre, the first phase of the project calls for the following:

■ Union Plaza -- A shopping and office complex with 300,000 square feet of specialty retail shops, 300,000 square feet of medical office space, an all-suite hotel, a conference center, apartments and a multi-screen movie theater, a 24-hour fitness and rehabilitation center, restaurants and outdoor cafes.

■ Union Place -- A senior retirement community for 1,200 full-time residents.

■ Union Park -- A cultural center with a performing arts center and education research centers. This area would include the Henderson Space and Science Center, a $61 million project that would be developed separately.

Union Village officials said it should take about 41 months from land purchase to construction of the first phase of the project.

The developer must acquire the land from the city, which bought it 20 years ago and once planned a sports complex for it.

After a feasibility study showed Clark County was the best place for the project, Baker said, the partners spent a year and a half looking at 11 sites before deciding on the former quarry, south of Central Christian Church.

Union Village officials are scheduled to go before the Henderson City Council on April 19 and follow up with a series of meetings. A final vote on the purchase is slated for the June 14 council meeting.

"Our goal is to have the property by the end of the year," Baker said.

Contact Henderson and Anthem View reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@viewnews.com or 387-5201.