Posted: Sat, 15 Jan 2011 11:23 AM - 14,139 Readers

By: Jacob Dirr

A competitor of the Lakeway Regional Medical Center is questioning the center’s $167 million federal loan guarantee, and is going to court for answers.

An attorney for Lake Travis Transitional Medical Center filed a lawsuit in December against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He’s accusing the department of being unresponsive to a request under the Freedom of Information Act for documents about its loan guarantee to Lakeway Regional.

If the competing hospital challenges the award, unveiled by HUD last May, it could jeopardize the $300 million, 270,000-square-foot medical center.

A Lakeway Regional spokesman said officials are aware of the situation and construction is on schedule for a May 2012 opening, adding that HUD did extensive, appropriate due diligence that he said included interviews with competitors and state officials.

By backing the mortgage loan, the government is helping the for-profit, acute-care hospital save about $91.2 million in interest over the life of the 25-year loan, HUD officials said.

The deal marked the largest HUD loan ever for a for-profit borrower, according to Walker & Dunlop Inc. (NYSE: WD), which facilitated the loan.

Lake Travis Transitional Medical Center, as it’s referred to in court documents, is also known as the Lake Travis Specialty Hospital or the Lake Travis Medical Plaza. It’s developed by Dallas-based Interra Development Group LLC and managed by Lakeway-based Pin Oak Management Co.

Read more: Lakeway Regional Medical Center’s funding being questioned | Austin Business Journal

*  Story Contributed by: Jacob Dirr