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Commission approves downtown land purchases to support Regional One hospital rebuild
Summary
The Shelby County Commission approved two add-on items authorizing up to $17.1 million and $7.15 million in capital funds to buy Commercial Appeal parcels as part of a site assemblage Regional One Health says will speed a hospital rebuild and reduce construction costs.
The Shelby County Commission voted to approve two add-on resolutions that authorize capital spending to buy downtown parcels that Regional One Health officials say are central to plans for a new hospital campus.
Reginald Coopwood, president and CEO of Regional One Health, told commissioners the parcels would assemble nearly 16 acres and allow the hospital to build off-site rather than phasing construction in place. "We feel this is an optimal site for the new hospital," Coopwood said, adding the alternate site would shorten a projected construction schedule from roughly eight to 10 years to about five to seven years.
County chief administrative officer Harold Collins said the proposed purchases are within the fiscal year 2025 capital-improvement budget previously approved by the commission. Daryl Cobbins, the commission's broker, described negotiations over two primary parcels and said one seller had invested roughly $8 million in a storage conversion; the negotiated price reflected both that construction investment and an income-capitalization appraisal. "BBG estimated that at stabilization... the value was roughly $19,300,000," Cobbins said, describing the appraisal approach for the income-producing parcel.
Commissioners pressed for more detail about valuation, environmental work and whether other parcels (3, 4 and 5 on the assemblage map) were under contract or subject to letters of intent. Cobbins said phase-1 parcel sales were negotiated and nonbinding letters of intent were in place for remaining parcels; environmental assessments were completed with a local firm and reviewed with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
The votes on the paired add-ons passed after discussion (11 ayes, 1 no). The administration said final design, programming and any additional parcel purchases would return to the commission for future approvals; no binding construction contract was authorized by the vote.
What's next: Regional One and county staff said they will continue programming and design work, pursue additional parcel agreements, and pursue state and philanthropic funding to complete a multi-phase project plan.
