Providence Health & Services has bought 11 acres of land north of Interstate 90 in Spokane Valley, and a potential development partner has approached that city about constructing a two-building, 140,000-square-foot medical complex there.

Joe Robb, Eastern Washington spokesman for Providence, declines to disclose plans for the recently acquired property, at 16528 E. Desmet Court, just east of the Hampton Inn hotel in the Hanson Center East commercial park.

The parcels Providence bought, however, are labeled as "Providence Health & Services Providence Medical Center" in a real estate flier promoting remaining lots for sale in Hanson Center East.

"This transaction is a big boost for Spokane Valley," says Carl Guenzel, of Spokane-based Kiemle & Hagood Co. Guenzel represents Hanson Industries Inc., of Spokane Valley, which owned and developed the Hanson Center East lots prior to the sale.

Providence Health & Services is the Renton-based, nonprofit parent of the Spokane-based Providence Health Care network. That network includes Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children's Hospital, Providence Holy Family Hospital, and a number of other health-care facilities, organizations, and services in Eastern Washington.

Robb says Providence is looking at several options for the property and is committed to a "robust planning process" that will include ensuring its financial viability before Providence proceeds with further development.

He declines to disclose the terms of the transaction. Records at the Spokane County Assessor's Office indicate Providence paid $4.6 million for the property.

Conceptual planning information on file with the city of Spokane Valley shows that NexCore Group LP, of Denver, proposes to develop what's described as a two-phase multispecialty ambulatory care center there.

Executives at NexCore couldn't be reached for comment. NexCore, a real estate developer and consultant that specializes in medical properties, owns and manages health-care facilities totaling 1.8 million square feet, its website says.

NexCore's conceptual plans say each phase would include constructing a three-story, 70,000-square-foot building with associated surface parking. The first phase would be developed on two lots on the west half of the parcel. The second phase would be constructed on the remaining three lots later, based on market demand, the plans say.

The city of Spokane Valley hasn't calculated a value for the proposed project, and the developer hasn't provided one yet, says Carolbelle Branch, spokeswoman for the city.

Mahlum Architects Inc., of Seattle, is listed as the architect on the preliminary plans, and the Spokane office of Bellevue-based DCI Engineers is listed as the civil engineer.

The medical center project would increase substantially Providence's holdings in Spokane Valley. Its only presence there currently is Providence Valley Family Physicians, a small medical practice that operates a clinic at 12509 E. Mission Ave., says Robb.

That clinic is located just north of Valley Hospital & Medical Center, which Community Health Systems Inc. owns. Franklin, Tenn.-based CHS, a for-profit entity that also owns Deaconess Medical Center, is Providence's biggest competitor here.

The project would be NexCore's second in the Spokane area with Providence. NexCore developed a four-story, 65,800-square-foot medical office building on the north side of Holy Family Hospital three years ago as part of a $35.8 million expansion of the hospital.

The Spokane Valley project site is a few blocks southeast of the River View Corporate Center, a two-year-old, 250,000-square-foot office building constructed and owned by Spokane developer Walt Worthy, at 16201 E. Indiana, also in Hanson Center East.

Guenzel says Hanson Industries completed infrastructure improvements serving a 37-acre addition to Hanson Center East within the last year, and the sale to Providence took more than six months to negotiate.

"While finishing up improvements to the property, this transaction came along," he says. "If you wait until they're coming and then do the improvements, you'll always be behind."

The land sale to Providence, along with the city of Spokane Valley's ongoing improvements and extension of Indiana Avenue near the commercial park, will make the remaining 15 improved commercial lots there more attractive to prospective buyers, Guenzel says. The prepared lots currently being market include a combined 26 acres of land with an envisioned 217,000 square feet of additional office building space, he says.

"It's turning into one of the biggest professional office parks in the greater Spokane area," he says.