The third time’s a charm for a future hospital campus at Copper Sky. 

Maricopa City Council last night unanimously approved the nearly $3.2 million sale of 9½ acres to BR Copper Sky, a California company, after the vote had been tabled twice. 

It was an exciting move forward for BR Healthcare President A.J. Thomas.  

“This is going to be a huge benefit for the community,” he told InMaricopa. “You know, we talk about things the city does not have; this is one of those things. So, we are excited from our side to bring this amenity to the community.” 

During the meeting, Mayor Nancy Smith described the approval process of four years that saw two other deals collapse as “a very interesting experience.” 

She told the developer, “We have high hopes for the development that you’ll be bringing forward.” 

Councilmember AnnaMarie Knorr, who had spearheaded opposition to the land sale, told InMaricopa she received “some negative feedback for slowing the process,” but defended her position.  

“As the city grows, we have to be more diligent and ensure that we are making decisions that will benefit our community,” she said this morning. “At the end of the day, we have a result that is far superior with significant guarantees of services for our residents. I am willing to take the heat if it results in better ideas and outcomes.” 

Goldilocksing 

The land sale has been a contentious topic at council meetings since at least January, when it was initially tucked away on the consent agenda. It was only added to the regular agenda after Knorr vocalized concerns over the developer about-facing on most of the proposed amenities — a hotel, cabanas fronting the palm tree-lined pool and a seven-story luxury condominium tower, among other things. 

In January’s version of the contract, the developer nixed those major features and downsized the hospital’s size and number of beds. The contract also showed the sale price for each parcel had not been updated for the new buyer, listing the same prices from January 2024, which were no longer consistent with the comps, according to Knorr. 

As a result, councilmembers voted to table the contract after a 49-minute executive session Jan. 21. This repeated Feb. 18 when, after a lengthy back and forth between the councilmembers, city planners and the developer, the council went into a 57-minute executive session only to table the vote once again. 

Things were different this time around.  

Stipulations 

Last night’s discussion was brief and sans impromptu executive session. 

Maricopa Chief Strategy Officer Joshua Bowman gave a quick rundown of the stipulations in the approved contract:  

• Clarified this will be an acute care hospital, not a micro-hospital, meaning it will allow for short-term care following a surgery or illness 

• Requires a minimum of 24 med-surgery inpatient beds, with four dedicated to ICU-level care 

• Requires at least one operating room with related rooms for pre-surgery, recovery and a sterile processing department 

• Requires a minimum 10 treatment bays, an intake area and helipad in the emergency department 

• Requires standard hospital imaging services, like CT, MRI and X-ray 

• Requires support services, like a pharmacy, cath lab, laboratory and other services needed for the hospital 

Jesse Slim, the company’s senior development manager, emphasized the items were baseline requirements. 

“Everything that was up there is the minimum that we want to have contractually in the hospital,” he told InMaricopa, “and then everything else that we can do to make it more attractive for the hospital system and for the [future] staff, all the better. It’ll be a long road still.” 

‘An investment into our community’ 

However, the sale price did not change from previous contracts.  

The land sale totaled $3,133,691, meaning the developer will purchase the land for $326,767 per acre. For comparison, councilmembers unanimously approved a different 2-acre land sale last night for a future trampoline park for more than $897,000.  

The hospital land sold for $108,833 cheaper per acre compared to the trampoline park.  

“They’re putting a lot of investment into the development of some of those plans that are going to be required to develop the property as it comes forward,” City Manager Ben Bitter explained during the meeting. “We certainly want to be reasonable and acknowledge that there is an investment that doesn’t come directly to the city but is an investment into our community.” 

The next steps, Slim said, are to finalize closing the sale and submitting plans to the city’s planning department. The contract stipulates vertical construction of the hospital must begin within 36 months of approval of the planned area development.