Atrium hospital coming to Cornelius

Feb. 21. By Dave Vieser. Visible from all corners of Cornelius, the new Atrium Hospital on Statesville Road nears completion day by day. It’s located on a portion of 97 acres purchased by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Housing Authority in 2019, and designated as exempt/non taxable property by the county, including some 60 acres north of the hospital site.

It’s a far cry from what local officials originally expected to be built on the old Cook Farm.

Some history

With lengthy frontage on I-77, it  has been a prized economic development site. Back in 2006,  Bromont, a Scottsdale, Ariz. developer, paid $34 million for the farm.

Plans then called for a 1.4 million-square-foot mixed-use project dubbed The Village at Lake Norman. The $155 million project would have theoretically competed with Birkdale Village, generating about $250,000 a year in property tax revenues at current rates each year for Cornelius.

Re-dubbed Augustalee, the plan ultimately collapsed during the real estate crash of 2008-2009. Lenders foreclosed and the property was sold to investors from ACN, and later sold to the Mecklenburg Hospital Authority for $19.6 million. Today, the same 97 acre parcel is valued at $23 million according to Mecklenburg County tax records.

The hospital authority is using the southern third of the vacant land for the new hospital, medical office buildings, and support services.

The use of the northern 60 acres remains in question.

A question

Cornelius Today sought to find out what Atrium plans for the land not occupied by a non-profit entity, and what proportion might produce tax revenue

Atrium responded with the following:

“Our focus has been on the construction of Atrium Health Lake Norman which will bring access to convenient and high-quality health care services for that community. We are excited for the grand opening later this year and the positive impact we can make for our patients in the area. We look forward to sharing more details in the future.”

Still, high hopes for tax revenue

Nevertheless, there are high hopes for property tax revenue.

Washam

Cornelius Mayor Woody Washam says “we do know that Atrium intends to develop the north 60 acres in some form that will be taxable.”

The Town has had some preliminary discussions with Atrium regarding what those uses may be, but Atrium is focused on the hospital and a possible Exit 27.”

Tax-exempt for now

Deputy Mayor Wayne Herron says the Town has been advised that if Atrium wishes to develop the 60 acres on the north end of their site as traditional business “they may lose their tax-exempt status for those 60 acres when that development occurs.”

As for what happens now, all 97 acres remain designated as non profit/exempt/non taxable. Any change can only be made by the County Assessor’s Office.

Washam says ot always benefits a local government to have taxable property, because it adds to ad valorem revenues.

Quotable

“But there are also times that a non-taxable entity, such as Atrium, has ancillary benefits that cannot be ignored. The uses that follow Atrium can be extremely profitable and produce a great deal of tax revenue and provide customers to adjoining businesses,” the mayor said.