$22M healthcare campus taking shape on Indian River Boulevard
Vero Orthopaedics and Neurology’s impressive new 70,000-square-foot medical office building is taking shape on 9.59 acres at 3955 Indian River Blvd., with an “anticipated completion date in late summer 2021,” according to Patrick Marston of Optimum Outcomes, LLC, a development partner in the project.
The massive concrete shell of the main two-story building is well underway, following “an extended approval process,” says Marston. “Site work continues as the concrete tilt panels are set into place and steel is being erected. The building will house Vero Orthopaedics and Neurology’s administrative, clinical, diagnostic, imaging and rehab space.”
The second floor will include “an ambulatory surgery center with three operating rooms and two procedure rooms.”
Vero Orthopaedics and Neurology CEO Jennifer Davison says the $22 million project, which stretches between 41st and 35th streets, “is moving along well. We will be moving all physicians and staff to the new location.”
Davison says the new campus “will allow us to provide a larger space for our patients and offer all services under one roof, including [those provided at] the state-of-the-art Ambulatory Surgery Center.”
“The building will include covered drop-offs, well-defined vehicular traffic flows and more than 350 parking spots to accommodate the growth of Vero Orthopaedics and Neurology’s practice, as well as other tenants,” says Marston, who points out the “excellent visibility and accessibility” of the Indian River Boulevard location.
“The building was designed,” he emphasizes, “for patient convenience and flexibility, while also offering the latest in structural integrity and technological advancement, including Smart Building Management controls.”
Vero Orthopaedics and Neurology will occupy most of the building, Marston says, but there will be “approximately 7,000 square feet of space available for lease,” noting that the developers are already “in discussion with multiple interested parties.”
Site preparation began earlier this year for the project, a partnership between Optimal Outcomes, a St. Petersburg-based ambulatory healthcare facility planning, design and development company, and Vero Orthopaedics and Neurology, a leading Vero Beach provider of orthopaedics and related services, made up of 13 physicians, headed by Dr. Seth Coren.
The property was purchased for $2 million in February 2019 and the development process began that June. In March 2020, Indian River County Community Development staff recommended major site plan approval, which was granted by a unanimous vote of the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The project hit a minor snag in April, when county planners denied the developers’ traffic impact fee credit application. If it had been approved, the credit would have reduced the impact fee amount paid by the developers in exchange for road improvements, but county planners said “the proposed improvements to Indian River Boulevard do not qualify for such credit.” The developers lost two appeals of that decision but decided to go ahead with the project anyway, without the credit.