Fairview Hospital Expansion Project Picks Up Speed

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Fairview Health Services has big plans in the works for the Burnsville health campus and hospital.

Tuesday, the health giant asked the city to approve its first step in a major expansion project: the construction of an extension of Fairview Drive, which will link the road to Nicollet Boulevard. Once completed, Fairview plans to fully develop a 39-acre tract at the south end of the campus, which includes land recently purchased from Best Western Premier Nicollet Inn. The cost of the road work will be roughly $3 million, to be paid entirely by Fairview and its partner, Park Nicollet.

The project also requires significant changes to Arthur Terrace, a gravel road that runs by three single family homes on the land. All are rentals owned by Park Nicollet. One, the southernmost home, will be removed prior to the start of construction.

The council will also review specific site plans for the new buildings proposed by Fairview, but these will be considered in a separate application down the road. So far, the proposal call for a five-story medical office building, a 40,000 square foot addition to the hospital's south end, and a parking ramp. A skyway will connect the office building to the main body of the hospital. The application for Phase II of the project is expected to come before the Planning Commission in March.

The 106-acre campus has gone through many transformations since it was established in 1974. Fairview added a fifth and sixth floor to the hospital in 2005, expanded its Breast Center in 2011. More recently, the company began construction of a in spring 2012