By Maggie Avants, Senior Staff Writer
After years of talks with city officials from Murrieta and Temecula, Kaiser Permanente’s plans to build a new medical complex in southwest Riverside County are moving forward.
The company is purchasing a 37-acre parcel of land at the northeast corner of Antelope and Keller roads in Murrieta that will house medical buildings and eventually, a hospital, city and Kaiser officials confirmed.
“As part of our on-going evaluation of member needs and services, Kaiser Permanente is constantly evaluating our facility requirements, and we have considered other sites over the past few years,” said Karen Roberts, senior director of public affairs for Kaiser Permanente Riverside.
“We determined that this particular Murrieta location best meets our current and evolving demands in South Riverside County, and offers the physical site considerations that will serve our members, physicians and employees, and the greater community very well for many years to come,” Roberts said. “This project will create additional good jobs in the community, and increase economic vitality in the region.”
Kaiser will be a neighbor to Loma Linda University Medical Center-Murrieta—in line with the city’s General Plan designation for that area as a medical and technology corridor. “Kaiser had many options to choose from,” said Murrieta Mayor Alan Long. “Murrieta has worked hard over the past several years reducing the process time for businesses. We proved ourselves when Loma Linda was built in record setting time. Kaiser will have an exponential effect of services and jobs to our area.”
Phase one of the site, currently projected for a 2016-2017 completion date, will be a LEED Gold, two-story, 80,000-square-foot medical office building at a cost of $60 million, according to Roberts. “Kaiser Permanente is committed to sustainability and our new facilities in Murrieta will be an important part of our green initiatives,” Roberts said.
“There are up to five phases planned over the next 25 years, including a 254-bed in-patient hospital, additional hospital support space, diagnostic/treatment facilities, and associated parking, which will move forward as health care demands evolve and we respond to the changing needs of our members and community,” Roberts added.
Prior to the start of construction, the project still needs to clear an environmental review.
Murrieta City Planner Cynthia Kinser said an environmental impact report is being prepared and should be available for public review by the end of this year. Following that, Kinser said the project has to go before the city’s Planning Commission and Council. Those hearings are tentatively scheduled to occur in spring 2015, she said.
The city understands that the healthcare market will determine how soon the entire project is built, said City Manager Rick Dudley.
“They are designing and planning for a full-on campus, but for obvious reasons they are not going to be building things right away that the future may change and we understand that,” Dudley said. “Healthcare evolves, and with technology evolving there are a lot of unknowns.”
Dudley noted that City Council recently approved a new interchange at Interstate 215 and Keller Road, which will provide easy access to the Kaiser facility as well as LLUMC-Murrieta just to the south.
“It is project we need anyway,” Dudley said. “Kaiser certainly does add to that need.” The construction of that interchange is pending environmental review, so it may be three to five years before it is complete, he said.
The Murrieta Kaiser site will be in addition to existing Kaiser medical offices in Wildomar and Temecula, according to Roberts, meaning increased services for members in the Murrieta-Temecula Valley. “We are expanding the access to high quality health care for our members throughout this area, and adding employment opportunities in the region as well,” Roberts said.