Medical, health technology are key components of mixed-use oneCITY plan
By John B. Mugford
As Dallas-based Cambridge Holdings Inc. moves forward on a large mixed-use project a few miles from downtown Nashville, Tenn., company officials say healthcare and life sciences are key components of the overall $400 million to $500 million project, known as oneCITY.
In fact, the city recently issued a $28.7 million permit to the general contractor, Kansas City, Mo.-based JE Dunn Construction Co., which has an office in Nashville, for the construction of a four-story, 120,000 square foot medical office building (MOB). It is the first structure to receive a permit in the overall development that could see more than 1.2 million square feet of medical, research, office, retail, and residential space on an 18.7-acre site.
A parking garage with 450 spaces will sit beneath the MOB.
According to Cambridge Holdings’ Ryan Doyle, the general manager of oneCITY, Tennessee Orthopedic Alliance will anchor the building, occupying about half of the space. In recent weeks, Mr. Doyle told local news outlets that two additional tenants were close to signing leases for about 10,000 square feet apiece.
He also tells Healthcare Real Estate Insights™ that the future building is between 60 percent and 70 percent pre-leased, with tenants potentially including healthcare technology firms as well as farm-to-table restaurants on the ground floor.
The MOB is set to open in August 2015, according to Mr. Doyle.
“Medical and life sciences are both integral components of the innovation district we are integrating,” he says.
Community leaders are excited about what the oneCITY development can potentially do for the area, perhaps revitalizing the stretch along Charlotte Avenue about two miles west of downtown. Mr. Doyle refers to it as a “medical and university corridor,” as it is near Vanderbilt University and within a mile of three major hospitals: TriStar Health’s Centennial Medical Center; Ascension Health’s St. Thomas Midtown Hospital; and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC).
Also near the development site is the headquarters for HCA Holdings Inc., the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain and the parent company of TriStar Health.
As an interesting aside, Mr. Doyle recently announced that the oneCITY project will include retail spaces made of repurposed shipping containers — the first of its kind in Nashville. The area will be called C1TYblox and comprise 21 repurposed shipping containers assembled and arranged to create a mini-retail district with food, fitness and event spaces. That portion of the project is slated for completion by the end of 2014.
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