Mayo
Clinic Hospital seeks to expandBy
Michael Clancy The
Arizona Republic 09.06.09
Center wants
Phoenix
's permission to build 4 new 250-feet-tall buildings
Mayo
Clinic
Hospital
is seeking
Phoenix
's permission to put up the Valley's tallest buildings outside
of central
Phoenix
.
Citing
an aging population that will increase demand on hospitals,
Mayo wants to construct a new hospital building and four
outpatient clinic and office structures on its campus at
56th Street
and
Mayo Boulevard
in northeast
Phoenix
. The buildings would be 250 feet high - taller than any
buildings in
Arizona
north of
Thomas Road
.
"The
message is that Mayo is here for the long term," said
Steven Pattyn, Mayo's director of campus and facilities
management.
Pattyn
said approval of Mayo's request would facilitate planning as
far as 40 years into the future.
Mayo
currently is restricted to 140 feet in height and 5.9 million
square feet. The hospital and other buildings now there occupy
no more than 1 million square feet. Besides the height, Mayo
wants to expand to 7.8 million square feet.
The
new hospital would be built east of the Residence Inn hotel,
while the clinic buildings would go in east of the current
specialty building on the east side of the hospital.
The
nearest building of such height is 17 miles away at
Thomas Road
and the Piestewa Freeway, where Phoenix Children's Hospital's
new tower is 248 feet tall.
Pattyn
said a 250-foot height limit is common for area hospitals.
The
increased height would allow Mayo to retain open space and
would facilitate patient and technological needs better than
spreading out, he said.
Mayo's
zoning attorney, John Berry, in an analysis prepared for the
city, said the need for Mayo's services is likely to grow.
"As
our community continues to grow and age, the need for
expansion to the hospital will be necessary to meet the demand
for medical services throughout
Phoenix
and the surrounding areas," he wrote.
In
a statement, City Councilwoman Peggy Neely, citing Mayo's need
"to operate with optimal efficiency and
effectiveness," said she fully supports the plan. She was
unavailable for questions.
Mayo
is on the south side of the Desert Ridge master-planned
community, a 5,700-acre development that stretches from 32nd
to 64th streets and from the Central Arizona Project canal to
Jomax Road
.
Restrictions
on Mayo's height and square footage are part of the Desert
Ridge Specific Plan, which the hospital is seeking to amend.
John
Klutznick of Northeast Phoenix Partners, master planner of
Desert Ridge, was non-committal.
"We
have not had the benefit of seeing Mayo's plans," he
said. "However, we hope to meet with them soon to
understand what changes they have in mind that would
necessitate amending the Specific Plan."
Northeast Phoenix
Partners could be concerned about the impact on surrounding
lands. Parcels north and east of the Mayo campus are vacant
but in the future could be home to manufacturing facilities,
offices, retail and apartments or condos. Mayo has several
steps to take to amend the Desert Ridge plan.
Clinic
officials will present the plan to the community at 6 p.m.
Sept. 15 at the
Paradise
Valley
Community Center
,
17402 N. 40th St
.
The
amendment request will go to the Desert View Village Planning
Committee on Oct. 6, the Phoenix Planning Commission on Nov.
10, and the City Council on Dec. 2. The process is the same
followed by American Express, Mayo's neighbor to the west,
which recently won city approval for plans to put up several
new buildings.
Jacob
Zonn, city planner for the area, said that if Mayo wins
approval, it would be free to proceed with its plans.
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