Benefits to the Community

PAMF's new campus will provide San Carlos residents with a new choice for high-quality and convenient health care, something that residents tell us is important to their quality of life. But the benefits that the campus will bring to the community go beyond medical care.

Development of a "Gateway" Project

The PAMF San Carlos Center will be a visible and attractive San Carlos landmark offering world-class medical and hospital care for southern San Mateo County residents. The medical center will serve as a "gateway" development that could increase the attractiveness of the area to other medical research and development facilities, hotels and commercial projects that might not otherwise locate in the City of San Carlos. The addition of biomedical and high-tech enterprises would help diversify and strengthen the local economy.

Medical and hospital facilities, such as the PAMF San Carlos Center, also tend to be stable occupants that locate in a community on a long-term basis. Stable tenants contribute to community stability by providing services, jobs and educational outreach.

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Economic Benefits

PAMF and the City of San Carlos have negotiated an economic package through a development agreement that will guarantee the city more than $91 million over 50 years, including annual payments of at least $630,000 (a gross 7% return) from an endowment established for the City, with annual inflation increases. This amount is more than a large retail center would have generated on the site and substantially more than the city was previously receiving from the site. The City will have complete discretion over how the revenues are spent.

PAMF will also guarantee the City at least $722,000 in one-time use tax revenue during construction of the medical center. The PAMF San Carlos Center will also purchase supplies on a recurring basis that will generate a guaranteed $152,000 annually in use tax revenue, an amount that will increase 3% annually for the next 50 years.

In addition, PAMF has already donated $1.5 million to the San Carlos Educational Foundation and $1 million to the City to develop athletic fields and facilities.

Development Agreement Breakdown

  • $61.4 million in guaranteed annual endowment returns
  • $17.1 million in guaranteed use tax revenue
  • $9 million to fund the endowment
  • $1.5 million for the San Carlos Educational Foundation
  • $1 million to improve athletic fields and facilities
  • $722,000 in guaranteed use tax revenue from initial medical center equipment purchases during construction
  • $500,000 in payments before the first payment from the endowment
Annual Projected Revenue Comparison

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Additional Economic Benefits

The PAMF San Carlos Center, as well as PAMF employees, patients and visitors, will also generate significant sales tax and business revenues for the City and for local restaurants, drug stores, clothing stores, general merchandisers, gasoline stations, food stores and hotels. The PAMF San Carlos Center is also expected to generate a number of out-of-town visitors seeking lodging while they visit hospitalized relatives and friends resulting in transient occupancy tax revenue for the City of San Carlos. In total, the PAMF San Carlos Center, as well as PAMF employees, patients and visitors, is estimated to generate approximately $70,000 annually in sales tax revenue, government fees and transient occupancy (hotel) tax.
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No Tax Money to Build

The PAMF San Carlos Center will not require any taxpayer support to build. PAMF will privately finance the project from a variety of sources, including philanthropic support.
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Environmental Clean-up

Cleanup of the property at 301 Industrial Road will ultimately benefit the entire community by improving the environmental quality of an 18.1-acre site in San Carlos. A detailed cleanup plan for the site has already been through public review and approved by the Bay Area Regional Water Quality Control Board. The cleanup, paid for by PAMF, will meet strict environmental standards, and only after it is completed and approved by state and regional agencies will PAMF build a medical center.

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Green Building Practices

PAMF knows the environmental impact of our medical center is important to the community. A healthy project design is also consistent with our values as an organization to provide patients with high-quality care in a comfortable, healing environment. In the design of the PAMF San Carlos Center, we are being guided by the Green Guide for Health Care. As a result, we are incorporating a number of green building practices into the design and dedicating more than 350,000 square feet of the property for open space, including landscaping and planted areas, providing a significant visual improvement to the area.

The preliminary list of items incorporated into PAMF's San Carlos Center include drought resistant plants, more pervious site area to reduce water runoff, green roof planting, solar window shading and more. In addition, the overall footprint of the campus, the amount of land on the site covered by buildings, has been reduced by 20 percent. Existing building materials on the site, including the steel framing and concrete, will also be recycled.
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