[Urbannizer]

New timeline revealed for $1.5B Texas Medical Center expansion

Press Release: http://www.tmc.edu/news/2018/04/tmc3...edical-center/

Groundbreaking for TMC3, the new campus, is expected to begin in 2019 with completion slated for 2022. The collaborative research campus is expected to involve five founding institutions as medical centers across the world continue to seek collaboration between major corporations and research universities.

The new campus alone is expected to have a $5.2 billion impact on the city of Houston and create a projected 30,000 new jobs. The campus is located south of TMC's current footprint in what is now mostly a parking lot between Old Spanish Trail and South Braeswood Boulevard.

"This project itself, I think, is one of the most transformational things that will ever happen to the Texas Medical Center," said Bill McKeon, president and CEO of TMC. "This will really set the cornerstone of how we do things in the future."

A lead architect and developer have not been selected for the project, but TMC has been working with Gensler and Hines in the initial phases of the project.

The 30-acre campus is expected to include roughly a 1.5 million-square-foot shared research space among the founding institutions: TMC, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. It's a first time these institutions will have built and shared a space of this scale in the TMC.

TMC3's centerpiece, resembling the double helix shape of a DNA strand, will be a multi-story building across most of the 30-acre area. The structure is expected to feature core laboratories, restaurants, retail and commercial space. TMC reversed its land covenants, historically designating its property as a nonprofit sphere, to become a for-profit area similar to its innovation institute. The labs are expected to be dedicated to genomics, imaging, drug screening along with conference and educational space.

Another visible part of the campus expected to be built is the 60-foot-tall elevated park, which will be open to the public. The 18-acre park is planned to have gardens, walking and running trails and views of downtown Houston. Landscape architect James Corner, who designed the High Line in New York, will be designing the park.

Finally, the new campus will feature a 19-story TMC Hotel and Conference Center. The hotel is expected to have 410 rooms, and the conference center is planned to encompass 50,000 square feet. A flag has not been selected for the hotel, McKeon said.