Dec. 21--Betting that the economy can't slump forever, a relatively young Modesto development firm is forging ahead with a vision of shops, restaurants, upscale condominiums and maybe a movie theater across the street from the new Kaiser hospital.

Chopra Development Enterprises could become the first, aside from Kaiser, to create something in the expansive Kiernan Business Park conceived by Modesto officials a dozen years ago as a jobs gold mine with easy access to Highway 99.

City and county leaders still dream of big firms, plants and warehouses on the 614-acre swath north of town. But the Chopra proposal would look more like a village than an industrial park.

The development hopes to lure hundreds of Kaiser employees and patients' family members looking for a bite to eat, a book to read, a hotel room or even a town house to rent within walking distance.

A draft environmental study released Wednesday seeks public input on several changes to a previous plan, allowing a cinema complex and stores and homes on 39 acres across Dale Road from the hospital.

That block of land is near the center of a 153-acre portion called Kiernan Business Park East. The Chopra project is timed to coincide with revisions in a blueprint for the larger area, including expanding Bangs Avenue from two to four lanes and introducing new design standards.

Heading the village project is firm President Aruna Chopra, a 59-year-old family physician-turned-developer who came to the United States from India in 1974 with her husband, Sawtantra Chopra. They settled in Modesto 30 years ago and he continues his pulmonology practice.

"We wanted to do something for the city to create jobs and bring the kids back," Aruna Chopra said. "All of our friends' kids, they never came back."

Neither did their eldest son, Rajiv, a radiologist who settled in El Dorado Hills. Their youngest, Sanjiv, worked for a development firm while attending McGeorge School of Law and then achieved a master's degree in business administration from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

But he came back.

"I'm passionate about development," said Sanjiv Chopra, 28. "It's something you can take from start to finish and reap the fruits as long as you work hard and keep focused."

The corporations of Chopra Development Investments and Chopra Development Enterprises were registered with the California secretary of state's office in August 2005. Public record searches show Sanjiv Chopra involved in several retail projects throughout the state.