New Medical Office Building to Be Built in Bradenton, Fla. Area

Feb. 23--LAKEWOOD RANCH -- A second medical office building under construction on the Lakewood Ranch Medical Center campus should be open for business in January.

The 60,375-square-foot building will cost in excess of $11 million, about 20 percent more than its twin, which opened in January 2003, principal John McKay said.

John M. McKay Inc. and Ron Allen, president of NDC Development Co., are partnering on the project.

"It's been a little slower than we would have liked," said McKay, former president of the Florida Senate, about this week's start of construction.

"The approvals in Manatee County and elsewhere in Florida have taken a little longer. But the dynamics of the growth at Lakewood Ranch will allow us to fill up the building very quickly," McKay said.

The master plan for the hospital campus allows for a 120-bed medical center and two medical office buildings. The hospital, which opened Sept. 1, 2004, could eventually be expanded with the addition of a new wing.

"The additional medical office building will be an asset to physicians and our neighbors in the community," Lynn Mergen, chief executive officer and managing director of the medical center, said in a statement.

The new building is more than 50 percent preleased.

"We expect a strong mix of primary care physicians to be in the facility. We have had conversations with numerous physician specialists in a wide variety of disciplines," McKay said.

The building, to be located on the west side of the medical center, was designed by HKS Architects and is being financed by Gold Bank, according to a statement.