A billion-dollar new hospital is the centerpiece of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s plan for its Brookhaven campus, CHOA revealed on Feb. 9. Along with other developments in the works by CHOA and Emory University, including an Atlanta Hawks training and medical facility, it means the area of North Druid Hills Road and I-85 is set to become metro Atlanta’s latest major medical center.

The new Brookhaven pediatric hospital eventually will replace CHOA’s 255-bed Egleston Hospital at Emory University, whose own site’s future use has not been determined, according to the announcement. Other details of the new hospital are scant, with the announcement launching an estimated 18 months of planning.

CHOA already has a 45-acre office complex at the intersection and for over a year has hinted at massive redevelopment. It recently broke ground on the first phase, an eight-story medical building called the Center for Advanced Pediatrics. The new hospital has been discussed privately with state officials, as Gov. Nathan Deal was quoted in CHOA’s announcement press release.

“The health of Georgia’s children has consistently been one of my top priorities,” Deal said in the press release. “Children’s Healthcare provides vital care for children from across the state, and its plans for a new hospital and continued statewide growth will help ensure that Georgia’s kids have a healthy future.”

“As we like to say, we’re glad Children’s is growing with us,” said Ann Marie Quill, a spokesperson for the city of Brookhaven, in an email. “That hospital will be a great benefit to the community as far as serving children and for the local economy. The CHOA/Emory/Hawks area is promising to be a southern gateway to the city that we will be proud of.”

The announcement indicates that other existing major CHOA facilities around metro Atlanta will remain in place and several expansions are underway. That includes CHOA’s Scottish Rite hospital on “Pill Hill,” the medical center in Sandy Springs, near the Brookhaven border, where Emory Saint Joseph’s and Northside hospitals also stand. An expansion of Scottish Rite to add beds is underway.

Another CHOA project, coming this year, is an urgent care center “in the Chamblee/Brookhaven area,” according to the announcement.

CHOA has a long relationship with Emory, as Egleston Hospital is a teaching affiliate of the university’s medical school. Emory is also expanding its medical presence at North Druid Hills and I-85, where the $50 million facility in partnership with the Atlanta Hawks basketball team is under construction.

CHOA estimates its “total investment” in the new Brookhaven hospital will be $1 billion to $1.3 billion. Design, planning and permitting work is expected through the rest of this year. “Specific transportation, site and building plans for the North Druid Hills Campus will be developed over the next 18 months,” the announcement press release says.