CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The City Council unanimously approved the first reading of a 61-acre site rezoning for Clarksville’s new VA Clinic. The council also heard additional details about the clinic, including its size and the roadways in and out of the site.
Carnegie Management & Development Corp., based in Westlake, Ohio, will serve as the developer on the project, and their president, Rustom Khouri, spoke to the council Thursday night.
“We are extremely excited to be here,” Khouri said. “Most of you are aware of (the project’s) importance; this community has one of the highest and most densely populated veteran communities. A lot of folks currently have to have long drives times in order to get some of the basic sub-specialty services that will now be included in this facility.”
4-story structure, 250,000 square feet, 1,300 parking spaces
The new VA site will be on the northeast side of the under-construction Spring Creek Parkway/Edgewood Place, behind the Walmart Supercenter.
Khouri said the project is a four-story structure, 250,000 square feet, with 1,300 parking spaces. “Its design have been very thoughtful over the years, and it’s really prioritizing delivering optimized care to our veterans from the moment their car enters the site. We want that experience to be calming and healing for them.”
He said when they come back for site plan approval, the community will see the incorporation of gardens and walking trails and opportunities for veterans, their families and caregivers to connect with nature.
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Khouri said on Carnegie Management has a long history with the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, and the VA Clinic in Clarksville will be the 12th major clinic they will have developed for the VA. Khouri said they have a fully executed lease with the VA that is binding and non-cancelable.
“I know it’s been a very long road for this community to get this project, but I can thankfully say that the roadblocks have been removed, and we are moving as quickly as we possibly can,” he said. “Which has been the directive we’ve received from the VA. You will see us again shortly as we feverishly work through the final design, and we’re really trying to target a groundbreaking for this project by late summer.”
He said construction should take three years, for a projected opening in 2030.
Questions about roadways in and out of site
Councilperson Joe Shakeenab asked about the ingress and egress to the VA Clinic. “Can you talk about the main roads and how many roads we’re going to have?” Shakeenab asked.
Khouri said the project will have three primary curb cuts, with one being the primarily identified for patient ingress and egress. “One curb cut for overflow patient and overflow employee, then one curb cut that will likely have a security component associated with it that will serve as their service drive, and some employee overflow,” he said.
“We feel like with the expansive site, we’ve tried to incorporate significant infrastructure to maintain as much traffic as we can on-site. Then, off-site, as you know we are the beneficiary of this beautiful new road in Spring Creek Parkway. … So, we do feel like we’ve taken the appropriate considerations on-site to maintain as much as that vehicular activity as we can, but once it leaves the site, we’re well located within your community to be in a roadway network that can sustain the additional traffic.”
Shakeenab asked if the clinic will come with a private access road, using Lowes Drive as an example. Khouri said all of the roadways on-site will be privately owned access drives that they will maintain and own.
Councilperson Jimmy Brown asked whether there will be access through Fair Brook Place, which is on the northeast side of Walmart. “Looking at the map here, others may not know you’ve acquired that property that is a C-2, C-4 that connects to Fair Brook Place. So, will there be an access road?” he asked.
Khouri said that is correct, and there will be no vertical structure on that portion of the site. “So, the C-2 zoning that it has is perfectly fine for its use,” he said.
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