The city of Victoria’s 2035 comprehensive plan calls for the city to be the medical hub for the region.
A key effort to reaching that goal is the construction of the Springwood Medical Plaza, a medical plaza that will include four stand-alone medical facilities located south of the DeTar Hospital North campus. The plaza is being developed by Diversified Wellness Associates.
The Victoria City Council on Tuesday will consider a funding agreement between the Victoria Sales Tax Development Corp. and the developer that will further progress of the plaza.
“Victoria has long been a major health hub for the Crossroads region. With the opening of this facility, we are investing in the medical infrastructure to better provide the most cutting edge health care locally to our community,” said Dr. Dharmendra Verma, a developing partner of the plaza, in a news release when construction of the first building broke ground in March.
Along with the one building currently under construction, the developer has plans to build three additional medical buildings on the site. However, the three new buildings need to be connected to a new higher capacity sanitary sewer line, according to a memo in the council meeting packet.
The developer has requested $380,000 in sales tax funds from the Victoria Sales Tax Development Corp. to go toward construction of the sanitary sewer line that is necessary for the completion of the project, which is what the council will consider Tuesday. The VSTDC approved this project and agreement at its July 27 meeting.
The new sanitary sewer line will open more than 100 acres of land for development, according to a memo in the council meeting packet. In consideration of the VSTDC’s participation, the developer has agreed to several performance guidelines, which include completing the sanitary sewer line installation by Dec. 31, 2021, and demonstrating that at least 100 new jobs related to the project have been created by Dec. 31, 2025.
Morgan Theophil covers local government for the Victoria Advocate. She can be reached at 361-580-6511, [email protected] or on Twitter.
