A new health and fitness facility under construction in Avon has led to plans for an almost 30-acre mixed-use complex on the north side of U.S. 36 believed to be the first of its kind in this market.

The project, called Satori Pointe, is being marketed to potential developers as a campus where medical offices, fitness-oriented retailers and residents would co-exist.

Deeni Taylor, regional executive vice president for Bremner Duke Healthcare Real Estate, said multi-use developments holistically focused on health and well-being exist in Dallas and Raleigh but he’s not aware of any here.

Taylor, whose firm isn’t involved in the project, said health care real estate is doing better than most sectors. “We’re seeing activity in some markets pick up. Now that hospitals see what health care reform is going to look like, they’re releasing some projects and going forward.”

He said mixing health care development with retail and housing in a village concept has been successful elsewhere.
Satori Pointe, which is just east of Dan Jones Road, would serve as a front door to the 122,000-square-foot Hendricks Regional Health YMCA, which broke ground last December.

That $18 million project was billed as unique when it was announced because it’s the result of a partnership between a health care organization, Hendricks Regional Health, and a fitness organization, the YMCA. It will pair physician and outpatient services and sports medicine facilities run by Hendricks with the Y’s fitness center, gymnasium and indoor aquatics center. It’s slated to open next May.

Satori Pointe will lie on either side of a broad boulevard leading from U.S. 36 to the Hendricks Regional Health YMCA. The development’s name comes from the Japanese Buddhist term for enlightenment.

Tim Norton and Jeff Merritt of Summit Realty are the brokers for the five development sites in the complex, The sites range in size from just under four acres to more than nine acres. The shovel-ready sites are divisible if more than one user is interested in the same site. The two that front U.S. 36 are being marketed for retail use. Two others are suggested for office/professional use, and the largest site is envisioned for apartments and/or senior housing.

Merritt said there’s been strong interest in the housing parcel from independent living/senior living developers. He and Norton are pursuing bookstores, fitness apparel retailers, natural and organic grocers and restaurants that promote healthy menu items for the retail space.

“We want Avon residents to come here every day to work out, go to the office, go to the grocery,” Merritt said.

The land is owned by Hendricks Regional Health, which installed infrastructure and utilities. The asking prices for the retail parcels range from $650,000 to $850,000 an acre. The housing and office parcels are marketed for $425,000 an acre.

Merritt said it’s possible Hendricks will end up developing one of the office parcels itself.

“I believe Satori Pointe will be a model for health and wellness developments,” Dr. John Sparzo, Hendricks Regional Health’s vice president of medical affairs, said in a prepared statement.

A fitness trail will line the perimeter of the development, which also will include park space and athletic fields.