A new medical office building under construction at the intersection of SR 60 and 27th Avenue is part of a burst of healthcare-related construction in and around Vero Beach.
The boom includes a 35-unit assisted-living building and a 25-unit dementia-care building at the $10 million Renaissance Senior Living project nearing completion on U.S. 1, a major expansion of Sebastian River Medical Center and a 35,000-square-foot medical office building just announced by Roberts Equities.
Healthcare related building is one of the strongest segments in the commercial real estate market with nearly $100 billion worth of projects in the pipeline nationwide at the start of 2016 and the pace of development accelerating, according to recent industry reports. And Indian River County is right in the middle of the trend.
Dr. Jerry Jacobson is developing the 4,594-square-foot medical building at 1966 27th Avenue and expects to have it open by April 2017.
He envisions the office as a hybrid between urgent care and family practice – much like a facility he owns in Fort Pierce – and says he will have about 15 employees in the new Vero location.
The site was purchased for $285,000 in July 2014, according to property records.
After the purchase, Jacobson removed three foreclosed single-family houses from the property. At a neighborhood meeting that was part of the review process, neighbors supported removal of the homes.
Construction crews have cleared the site to prepare for building and a foundation has been installed. Todd Howder of MBV Engineering in Vero Beach is the project engineer. Jacobson opened Fort Pierce Family Urgent Care in 2012, according to the facility’s website. That office functions as a family practice, while also providing urgent care service.
The new building, which will be known as the Jacobson Medical building, taps into a strong healthcare industry construction trend in Indian River County.
Besides the new rooms at Renaissance Senior Living, the old Sturgis property on the other side of State Road 60 and just two blocks north next to Mid-Florida Credit Union is up for sale, and prospective buyers and developers have floated the idea of a medical office building on that site.
Another medical office project, a 35,000-square-foot building, is coming to a site near the Sebastian River Medical Center. Boca Raton-based Randy Tulepan, of Roberts Equities, will develop the building on a 3.69-acre site at 13975 U.S. 1.
The project aims to capitalize on a major 94,000-square-foot expansion at nearby Sebastian River Medical Center. The $64 million project, which broke ground on Aug. 29, will add 10 operating rooms and 48 patient rooms and dramatically increase the number and scope of procedures performed at the Sebastian hospital.
The growth of healthcare here is reflected in employment figures. Based on 2015 stats, healthcare is the top job category out of 20 employment sectors in the county with 8,774 jobs averaging an annual salary of $44,748 – good for the ninth highest salary ranking job out of 20.
Commercial real estate broker Billy Moss said a driving force behind the new medical building at State Road 60 and 27th Avenue is that it’s in a residential area close to rooftops and accessible to patients who don’t have to go to the hospital zone on 37th Street.
This too is part of a nationwide trend.
“There is a movement toward the community and away from the hospital campus in medical office building construction, with 72 percent of projects in the pipeline being off campus,” according to a recent article in Health Facilities Management Magazine.
“That’s one of the busiest corners,” Moss said of the location. He noted 27th Avenue leads south to a lot of recent new developments and has emerged as a major north-south artery for the Vero area.
“It’s a very well-traveled street because of the residential developments,” Moss said.
Jacobson agreed that the location is good because it’s in a high-traffic area.
He also noted his business will serve an important niche in the Vero market, offering affordable healthcare and convenient appointments.
“We’re not competing with hospitals,” Jacobson said.