Health Alliance seeks property next to Research Campus

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Editor’s note: News Molecules are designed to give readers occasional tidbits of information about the N.C. Research Campus.
By Emily Ford
Salisbury Post
KANNAPOLIS ó The Cabarrus Health Alliance is now looking for a new home adjacent to the N.C. Research Campus, not on it.
The price tag to buy space inside the future Medical Office Building was too high with no reduction in sight, said Dr. William F. Pilkington, director of the Cabarrus Health Alliance.
Pilkington’s agency will receive $15 million from publicly financed bonds tied to the campus. But campus developer Castle & Cooke’s quoted price for the Medical Office Building would have put the total at $20 million once the Health Alliance upfit and furnished the space, Pilkington said.
“I’m not disappointed,” he said. “We have $15 million, and that’s more than most public health departments have.”
To qualify for the bond money, the Health Alliance must buy property “on or adjacent” to the Research Campus, Pilkington said.
Castle & Cooke President Lynne Scott Safrit will help the agency find property that meets that definition, he said.
Contact Emily Ford at eford@salisburypost.com.