Plans for medical residency training center advance

Plans for a medical residency training center were advanced Wednesday by the Shawano Plan Commission and were expected to be on the Common Council’s agenda next week.

The commission recommended approval of a certified survey map for the facility, as well as a conditional use permit to split off a portion of the property, and a rezoning of the split for residential use associated with the facility and another portion for senior housing.

“This was all contemplated as part of the development agreement we entered into,” City Administrator Brian Knapp said.

A development agreement between the city and RTC Real Estate Holdings LLC approved in November calls for a 25-bed residency training hospital and medical clinic, along with eight 12-unit residential apartment buildings, that would be located north of County Road B and east of Waukechon Street in Shawano.

The apartments would be a mix of multi-family housing and senior assisted living facilities.

The 39-acre complex, located in Tax Incremental Finance District 7, would be just south of the new Belmark packaging development.

RTC expects to make a roughly $63 million investment in the project, according to the agreement.

The $780,000 cost of the property would be offset by credits RTC would receive if it meets all of its obligations under the agreement, basically providing the property to RTC at no cost.

The agreement calls for RTC to construct a 45,000-square-foot medical clinic in three phases, with the first phase completed by January 2018.

The residency training hospital would be up by January 2020.

Four 12-unit apartment buildings would go up in 2019 and 2020, with 48 units of additional apartments and/or senior assisted living beds by January 2023.

The last phase of the medical clinic would be completed by January 2026.

The residency training hospital portion of the project would be tax-exempt, but RTC would make an annual payment to the city in lieu of taxes starting 10 years after the project’s completion.

The city would also issue a municipal revenue bond of $2.5 million on RTC’s behalf once the early phases of the project are completed.

The 22-acre hospital portion of the project is expected to increase the value of the property by $38 million and create 210 full-time jobs, according to the agreement.

Improvements to the 9-acre housing and senior care portion should add $8.5 million to the taxable land value and create 25 full-time jobs.

The clinic and professional building portion is expected to add $7.5 million in taxable valuation improvements and create 50 full-time jobs.

A plan to turn the former SMC property into a residency training hospital was approved by city officials last year, but fell through after ThedaCare, which owns a portion of the property, refused to sign on.

ThedaCare objected over concerns that the training center would compete with ThedaCare Medical Center-Shawano.

Developers have been looking for an alternate location since the former hospital site fell through in August 2015.