Camino Medical Group Withdraws Bid To Build Facility in Mountain View
The Camino Medical Group, a division of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, has withdrawn its bid to build a $100 million, 200,000-square-foot facility in Mountain View, the San Jose Mercury News reports. In April, not-for-profit Camino proposed making a one-time $4 million payment to the city in lieu of taxes, in part to alleviate some council members' concerns that a commercial facility would generate more taxes for the city. The 190-doctor medical group also offered to give $75,000 per year to local schools, which is approximately the same amount the schools would have received from the current tenant in property taxes. However, Dr. David Druker, CEO of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, said that Sacramento-based Sutter Health, which is affiliated with Camino through the Palo Alto foundation, did not want to set a precedent by paying money to a city instead of taxes because other cities could make similar demands, the Mercury News reports. "[T]he more we thought about [the $4 million payment], the more we said it was a precedent that wasn't appropriate for us to do," Druker said.
The withdrawal was a "stunning blow" to some local leaders, according to the Mercury News. Matt Pear, a city council member, said, "I hope all the parties can go back to the negotiating table and take a real hard second look and see what each party can live with" (Kwan, San Jose Mercury News, 9/5).
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