Green Valley Ranch, about 20 minutes northeast of downtown Denver, has become the new residential and commercial hotspot along the E-470 corridor. But there has been one thing missing: nearby medical services to meet the growing healthcare needs of this rapidly expanding master-planned community.
But that’s about to change thanks to The Medical Center of Aurora (TMCA), Green Valley Ranch Medical Clinic, Green Valley Ranch Urgent Care Center and NexCore Group. NexCore, a leading national medical and mixed-use real estate firm, plans to break ground Sept. 21 for a two-story, 47,000 square foot, Class A medical office building (MOB) – the first MOB to be built in this medically underserved, growing area.
The population of the area surrounding and including Green Valley Ranch is projected to increase 18 percent by 2009 to 90,000. Yet there are only three full-time physicians practicing in the area. The new MOB northeast of Tower Road and East 48th Avenue in 2007 will bring convenience and access to the most commonly required healthcare services. The high-visibility site offers easy access to I-70 and I-225, as well as E-470, downtown, and Denver International Airport.
Services provided at the new Green Valley Ranch MOB will include laboratory, radiology/X-ray, internal medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN, orthopedics/sports medicine, and occupational medicine and rehabilitation. TMCA will be a tenant, taking approximately 28,000 square feet. RMI Capital Management represented TMCA in the lease negotiations.
“The Medical Center of Aurora was the first hospital built in Aurora more than 30 years ago to take care of residents in the growing eastern metro area,” says TMCA CEO Sylvia Young. “Now we are part of another first: bringing outstanding primary care, specialty doctors, and other health services to the first medical office building in Green Valley Ranch. We are delighted to be part of the dynamic growth in Green Valley Ranch and the Northeast Metro corridor.”
The MOB will also house Green Valley Ranch Medical Clinic and Green Valley Ranch Urgent Care Center, both expansions of Gateway Medical Clinic in Aurora. Dr. Augustine Obinnah of Gateway, and his wife and Gateway Business Manager, Ugo Obinnah, were the driving force behind efforts to bring an MOB to Green Valley Ranch. About three years ago, they recognized the area’s lack of healthcare services and began seeking practice space in the vicinity. Finding nothing suitable, they began working on plans to develop their own MOB of about 10,000 square feet.
But Dr. Obinnah says, “Once we started searching, we saw the need of the community – and the opportunities. The project snowballed into a much larger facility.” That’s why the Obinnahs decided to involve an experienced healthcare real estate firm: NexCore Group.
“We needed partners who understood the medical real estate business, who had a track record, who recognized the opportunity and who had the financial backing to execute a project of that size,” Dr. Obinnah says. “We worked hand in hand with NexCore to get other physicians interested in the opportunity, and got them and the hospital on board.”
“As a Denver-based firm, we are especially pleased to be part of the effort to bring expanded healthcare services to the metro area,” says Jarrod Daddis, NexCore’s Senior Vice President, Development & Operations. “The Obinnahs’ vision and TMCA’s commitment will benefit residents of the Green Valley Ranch area for many years to come.”