The federal government has selected the site for a long-planned VA outpatient clinic and filed plans for a 124,000- to 130,000-square-foot facility that would be staffed by nearly 50 doctors and dentists and employ as many as 250 people. 

The U.S. Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic will be at 3811 Plaza Way on nearly 12 acres just across from Trios Health in Kennewick’s Southridge area, according to documents filed with the State Environmental Protection Act, or SEPA, register.  

Construction is expected to cost $35 million, according to city planning documents. 

A registered agent bought the property in March for $13.5 million. The VA selected Illinois-based JTW Development LLC to develop and lease the clinic under a 20-year agreement valued at more than $209 million. 

The site is one of two the VA considered. The other was a 19-acre parcel at 8428 Bob Olson Parkway. Before narrowing it down to these two sites, the VA also considered Vista Field in Kennewick in 2023. 

“In Kennewick and the greater Tri-Cities area we love that we will be able to provide specialized care for our local veterans, and we are excited this new facility will draw veterans from the wider region into our city for appointments and to enjoy other city services and local businesses while they are here,” Erin Erdman, Kennewick’s city manager, said in a statement to the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business.

Additional details in public documents indicate construction may start as soon as this fall, the building footprint will cover 85,000 square feet and have 700 parking spaces, with construction taking 18 to 24 months – potentially being completed in summer 2028. The clinic would not be more than two stories. 

By comparison, Trios Health’s Southridge hospital was 160,000 square feet and cost $63 million to build, according to a 2012 building permit. Today, the hospital now covers more than 187,000 square feet, according to property records. 

While there are no specific details about what types of providers or services will be at the facility, the VA describes its community-based outpatient clinics as providing the most common outpatient services so veterans “can take care of routine appointments in a more convenient location.” 

“We keep expanding our network of (community-based outpatient clinics) to more rural locations so we can help you access care closer to home,” the VA said about its clinic network. 

Ryan Companies US Inc. is listed as the project’s builder in SEPA documents. The same company is the contractor for $30 million in improvements being planned for Amazon’s dormant Project Pearl warehouse on the east side of Pasco. The architect is listed as Leo A Daly, a firm based in Omaha, Nebraska. 

The Journal reached out to the VA regarding the project but the agency has not yet provided a formal response. 

A representative for U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Washington, who has long championed the need for a larger VA facility in the Tri-Cities, confirmed the VA was planning to build a clinic on the site.  

Newhouse announced the intention for the VA to build the clinic last summer, after $48.2 million for the project was included in federal legislation in 2022.  

“I am pleased to have helped secure funding for this historic investment for veterans in the Tri-Cities that will revitalize care for over 16,000 of them who call it home,” Newhouse said in a statement to the Journal. “Working to ensure veterans have better access to medical care and services has been a top priority during my time in Congress, and I am glad these new resources will directly benefit those in our area who have served.”

Currently there is a VA clinic in the Richland federal building on Jadwin Avenue, just a few blocks from Kadlec Regional Medical Center. That clinic offers primary care as well as toxic exposure screening. The closest VA Medical Center is in Walla Walla.