NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A Dallas-based company on Monday announced plans to build and operate a $250 million Nashville Medical Trade Center on the site of the city's existing convention center.

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Market Center Management Co. plans to build a 12-story structure on top of the largely underground facility that would become available if the Metro Council in the coming weeks votes to approve the construction of a new $585 million convention center.

Gov. Phil Bredesen said the medical mart could create up to 2,700 new jobs and 150,000 new visitors to the area.

"This is a big deal," Bredesen said at a news conference. "This is more than the announcement of just a new tenant."

Rival medical mart projects are being pursued in Cleveland and New York. Each would create a central place where makers of health care-related products and technology could feature offerings to buyers from the medical industry.

Dallas-based Market Center Management is a subsidiary of real estate investment firm Crow Holdings. It also owns or manages market centers and trade shows in Shanghai, Brussels and Dallas.

"We're calling the Nashville Medical Trade Center a global health care marketplace because we envision health care providers from around the world coming to the city to learn about the latest medical technology and services," said Bill Winsor, chief executive officer of Market Center Management.

Project manager David Osborn said the Nashville facility will house between 600 and 1,000 permanent tenants. He said the project is part of a "push to take cost, complexity and time out of the procurement process for health care providers."

According to Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, the project will be mostly privately funded, but the city will provide tax incentives.

"The new convention center and this new facility here, when it's completed, play to our strengths and enhance our position as a major tourist destination, a major convention destination, but also as the health care capital of the world," said Dean.

Council member Michael Craddock said he didn't know the announcement was coming until he read about it on Monday morning.

"It does surprise me because the council hasn't approved this deal yet. I wish they'd sit down somewhere, take a deep breath and let the council do its job," said Craddock.

Market Center Management Co. hopes to start construction by mid to late 2010 and open the facility in 2013.