KANNAPOLIS — With the first heavy equipment on site, construction began Monday on the long-awaited Medical Office Building at the N.C. Research Campus.
The 60,000-square foot building joins the new Cabarrus Health Alliance building, which opened earlier this year, to form the Research Campus’ medical corridor. The new building is going up on Wellness Way near Dale Earnhardt Boulevard.
The Charlotte Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, the parent organization of Carolinas HealthCare System, is the building’s main tenant. They have leased half the building for primary- and specialty-care practices and an imaging center, all tied to of CMC-Northeast in Concord.
Castle & Cooke Inc., developers of the campus, own the building and are marketing the additional medical office space. Plans called for Carolinas HealthCare to share the building with PPD Inc., but the Wilmington-based contract-research organization pulled out of the campus in 2009.
The Medical Office Building has been a part of the campus plan since California billionaire and Dole Food Co. chairman David Murdock opened the 350-acre life sciences hub in October 2008. But the pace of development slowed during the recession.
Carolinas HealthCare has remained an active partner and supporter of the campus, including involvement with Duke University’s long-term medical research project, the MURDOCK Study.
Having Carolinas HealthCare on campus “and able to interact at a higher level with all of our corporate and academic partners will further the scientific process and help translate discoveries regarding diet and exercise and the prevention of disease to patients more quickly,” Clyde Higgs, vice president of business development for the campus, said in a press release.
The new building’s architect is Creech and Associates.
“We’re so happy to have the building under construction and Carolinas HealthCare System a step closer to joining us on campus,” said Lynne Scott Safrit, campus president. “It means we’re a step closer to seeing our vision fulfilled of being the world’s preeminent resource for research that transforms science at the intersection of human health, nutrition and agriculture.”
Before the Cabarrus Health Alliance opened, the last construction was the $26 million Rowan-Cabarrus Community College building two years ago.
The campus is home to eight universities as well as corporate, government and non-profit partners focused on research into human health, nutrition and agriculture to prevent, treat and cure disease. For more information, visit www.ncresearchcampus.net.