Cerner officials issued a statement Tuesday that said the health information technology company plans to add 50 acres to the 237-acre Three Trails project, giving it a place to build a training center and health clinic for its employees.

It also plans to scatter the buildings across the site and include green space, rather than the original plan of having all the buildings in the center surrounded by parking lots, The Kansas City Star reported (http://bit.ly/SPpEbA). The expansion would add $213.7 million to the estimated $4.2 billion cost of the campus, which will be home to 15,000 new employees when it is completed in 2024.

The Kansas City Increment Financing Commission is expected to discuss the revised plan at its July meeting.

“The new site layout is slightly larger and includes a stand-alone associate health clinic, a training facility and a parking garage, which will afford more green space,” Cerner officials said in the statement.

The 4.4 million-square-foot project already would be the largest office development in the Kansas City area. The Sprint campus in Overland Park, Kansas, totals 3.9 million square feet.

The expansion area also includes what neighbors and city officials describe as two blighted motels and a former Montgomery Ward.

“It would be a huge plus for the area if those buildings came down and Cerner went all the way to 87th Street,” said Carol McClure of the Southern Communities Coalition. “We are excited about Cerner, no question about that.”

Kansas City Councilwoman Cindy Circo, who represents the area where Three Trails would be built, said it would help redevelop the site, which is currently mostly empty space and dilapidated buildings where a shopping mall once stood.

“I think that area that was being cut off could have taken a while before it was productive for south Kansas City,” Circo said. “Cerner taking it makes a larger project even better with green amenities and continues to demonstrate Cerner’s investment in south Kansas City.”

The Three Trails plan also includes restaurants, shops and a hotel.

Construction of the first phase of the development — office space in two buildings and a service center — is expected to begin this year.