Dive Brief:

• Pacific Group, a Salt Lake City-based developer and general contractor, broke ground Oct. 4 on the $5 billion Helios Health and Wellness campus in Las Vegas, according to a company release shared with Construction Dive.
• The mixed-use project will include more than 2 million square feet of laboratory, research and medical office space; 500,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and 250 hotel rooms. Pacific Group anticipates project completion in phases over the next seven to 10 years, and expects the completed campus will generate over 10,000 jobs. 
• The Helios project is designed to meet surging demand for medical services in the Las Vegas area, especially due to rapid population growth and low medical office vacancy, according to the release.

Dive Insight:

The $5 billion project is the latest example of a massive increase in healthcare construction spending.

Spending in the sector reached near all-time highs over the summer, according to a recent Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis healthcare construction report. Proposal activity in the healthcare market was the second-highest of the 12 major sectors in the second quarter of 2022, according to the PSMJ Resources Quarterly Market Forecast survey of architecture, engineering and construction firm leaders.

But top business leaders around the world are bracing for an economic downturn, reports NPR. Economists recently pegged the odds of a recession within the next year at 60%, up from 50% a month ago, reports Bloomberg.

Nevertheless, developers continue to bet on Las Vegas’ growth regardless of both these economic headwinds and signs of cratering consumer confidence.

That confidence largely stems from the area's unprecedented population growth, according to the Pacific Group release. For example, the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada forecasts Southern Nevada’s population to rise to 3.4 million residents by 2060. Additionally, no new medical developments have been completed in the last 12 months in the area, according to the release.