Plans changed for the mixed use development from the medical center to two medical office buildings, retail space as well as a four-story hotel, Brian Copfer, senior vice president of Miller-Valentine Group, confirmed during a public hearing last week before West Chester Twp. trustees.
“We initially had the 90 acres just to the north in Liberty Twp. under contract to do a big development there and accommodate TriHealth there for a big campus,” he said. “It morphed into a smaller project so we moved the entire TriHealth use over (to West Chester Twp.).”
Liberty Twp. Trustee Tom Farrell said the cost for things like utilities and road widening were too high for the larger project.
“Certainly I was disappointed,” Farrell said. “We worked very, very hard to get that accomplished and we were unable to meet their financial needs so they down-sized. When they downsized their plans they didn’t need as much land. They obviously would prefer to have Liberty Way frontage than Cox Road frontage. It was a business decision and I can’t fault them for that.”
Copfer said TriHealth is still working on how the phases of two medical office buildings will look.
The project also doesn’t have a hotel tenant yet, but he said the retail portion should fill up quickly.
Plans are to close on the property by the end of the year and begin construction as soon as possible, Copfer told West Chester Twp. trustees.
Liberty Twp. Trustee Board President Christine Matacic too was dismayed they lost the project, but said it is still good for her residents.
“It is right adjacent to where they were going to build, they’re happy,” Matacic said. “What’s good for West Chester is good for Liberty and what’s good for Liberty is good for West Chester in the long run.”
TriHealth is a non-profit, which means property taxes can’t be collected from that portion of the development.
TriHealth opened Group Health West Chester, a medical office for the multi-specialty doctors group, in 2014 on Princeton Glendale Road.
The Cincinnati-based health network also operates Bethesda Butler Hospital in Hamilton and McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital in Oxford.
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