Houston-based Texas Medical Center unveiled plans April 23 for a sweeping medical research campus that brings together five of the state's powerhouse research institutions, according to The Houston Chronicle.
Here are eight things to know.
1. The plan, dubbed TMC³, is a collaboration between the Texas Medical Center, Houston-based Baylor College of Medicine, Bryan-based Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Houston-based University of Texas Health Science Center and Houston-based University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
2. While leaders of the five founding institutions have yet to disclose the project's price tag, estimates reveal it will cost a total of $1.5 billion, according to the Houston Business Journal.
3. The medical research campus will span 30 acres on Texas Medical Center's campus. Its centerpiece will be a $246 million multistory building that resembles a double helix, or a strand of DNA. The building will contain laboratories, plazas, restaurants and other commercial space.
4. To fund the centerpiece, Texas Medical Center will pay $40 million and the other four institutions will contribute about $36.4 million.
5. In addition to the main building, the campus will feature a $60 million elevated park, and a 19-story hotel with 410 rooms and 50,000 square feet of conference space.
6. A late 2017 economic impact study conducted by Silverlode Consulting estimates that the annual impact of the project would be $5.2 billion. In addition, the project is expected to create 30,000 jobs, according to the Houston Business Journal.
7. "In the 70 plus years in Texas Medical Center history, this will be one of the most transformational initiatives we've ever taken," said TMC President and CEO William McKeon, according to The Houston Chronicle. "Decades from now, we're going to look back at this historic event and really understand how much it changed the way in which we behave and compete in the world."
8. Plans for a new research campus on Texas Medical Center's campus have been in the works since 2014. Texas Medical Center leaders expect the construction to begin in 2019, with a completion date scheduled for 2022.