Avon and Denver, CO – When NexCore Group broke ground on the new three-story, 48,400 square foot Buck Creek Medical Plaza in Avon more than a year ago, it realized a long-standing but rather elusive goal of building a new healthcare facility that uses 21st century delivery models to provide consolidated outpatient and emergency care in a highly convenient location in the Vail Valley.
At the Aug. 4 grand opening celebration, a proud group of community leaders and healthcare providers joined NexCore in honoring the tenacity that went into the much-needed project that opened less than a year after breaking ground.
“I can’t tell you how proud we all are that NexCore was able to pull this off and we have this new medical office building in our town,” Avon Mayor Jennie Fancher said during the grand opening celebration. “This building came together and was constructed in virtually a year. To me that’s remarkable.”
With anchor tenants Centura Health and Colorado Mountain Medical, and other specialties such as physical therapy, dental and allergy, top-quality healthcare is being delivered to a Colorado mountain community that has been especially challenged by the changes in medical care during the past few years.
Town Manager Virginia Egger echoed the sentiment of the importance and challenge of bringing excellent healthcare to a diverse mountain community. “Buck Creek Medical Plaza in Avon brings one of the most important ingredients needed to have a strong community. This is truly a spectacular addition to the region and to Avon.”
The story behind the facility is one of synchronicity, collaboration and fate, with a dose of “luck and pluck” as Ms. Eggers put it.
NexCore’s Managing Principal Todd Varney spent six months trying to find land, but was unable to find anything suitable in the area. Ideally, NexCore wanted the facility to be in Avon, as it is in the center of the Vail Valley, bordered by East Vail and Eagle, and is the home of the tony Beaver Creek ski resort.
Mr. Varney finally found a 2.15-acre piece of land called Buck Creek Lot 1A that was bought by the Eagle River Fire Protection District at the top of the market in 2007 for $3.6 million. The parcel was perfect for NexCore’s needs. But when Mr. Varney tried to buy it from the Fire District, the answer was no, as it was not for sale.
Mr. Varney then went to the Town of Avon and Ms. Egger. She was aware of and had the first rights to buy a two-acre lot adjacent to the Fire District land, known as Lot 1B. New York financier and Vail resident Oscar Tang, an individual highly committed to the Vail Valley, owned that lot.
Mr. Tang entered into a covenant and reverter clause arrangement with NexCore, who purchased Lot 1B for $1.6 million. As NexCore began the design process on the medical facility, it concurrently helped the Fire District determine the best ways to build on Lot 1A, so there would be a synergy between the two lots. In the process they determined they were better off swapping parcels. NexCore agreed to buy the Fire Division piece for $3.6 million, the same price paid in 2007 at the top of the market.
From there, things went into high gear, as NexCore wanted to break ground on the facility in 2015. The Town of Avon participated with the Fire District on a bridge loan. The planning department took the challenge and set its conditions and deadlines. NexCore took on the majority of the risk in order to meet the timing on the back end for its clients, including $800,000 in initial design costs before entitlements were completed. NexCore and the Fire Division met all the deadlines and the Town of Avon was able to help NexCore fast track entitlements.
Project Team
Developer: NexCore Group LLC, Denver
Owner: The project is being financed and will be owned by NexCore Group.
Architect: Davis Partnership Architects, Denver
Construction Manager: Calcon Constructors, Englewood, Colo.
Property Manager: NexCore Properties LLC, Denver
Asset Manager: NexCore Properties LLC, Denver
Photo courtesy of NexCore Group