The Makings of a Medical City
A “medical city” in southeast Orlando will include a cluster of facilities for research, education, treatment and commerce. The site is part of the 7,000-acre Lake Nona development. Here’s how things are shaping up:
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1 - Town Center
2 - Nemours Children’s Hospital
3 - Veterans Affairs Medical Center
5 - Burnham Institute for Medical Research
» Town Center
Retail, residential, restaurants, office space and outpatient facilities to support the 600-acre science and technology park.
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» Nemours Children’s Hospital
95-bed main structure plus a pediatric clinic, medical office buildings and two parking garages
When: Breaking ground first quarter of 2009; opening midyear 2012
Location: Next door to the town center
Size: 600,000 square feet on 60 acres
Cost: $400 million
Comforts: Basement that opens onto lakefront property surrounded by gardens, play space, sculptures and possibly an amphitheater and bicycle paths; two rooftop gardens
Employees: 1,200, including 50 new physicians
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» Veterans Affairs Medical Center
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The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic will move from its current location near Baldwin Park and add 134 in-patient beds.
When: Opening in 2012
Size: 1.1 million square feet on 65 acres
Project cost: $600 million
Employees: 2,000 to 2,500
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» UCF College of Medicine
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UCF’s Health Sciences campus includes the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences building, which will be used primarily for research, and a classroom building.
When: The research building will open in March/April 2009; the classroom building in spring in 2010
Size: Research building,
199,269 square feet;
classroom building,
171,021 square feet
Cost: Research building, $68 million; classroom building, $53.3 million
Employees: About 500, plus 100 students, by 2010
» M.D. Anderson Orlando Cancer Research Institute — It will occupy the fifth floor of the new UCF medical school building for up to five years until its own facility is constructed.
When: Move in next year
Size: 30,000 square feet
Cost: $2.5 million a year paid to UCF for up to five years
Employees: About 20, including 12 researchers
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» Burnham Institute for Medical Research
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Climate-controlled chemistry and biology labs, one wing for administration and a 250-seat auditorium
When: A topping-off ceremony was held in May; first occupants will move in next March
Size: 175,000 square feet
Cost: $367 million
Employees: 75, including nine scientists who are “principal investigators” at faculty level. Expected to grow to 120 by mid-2010, then 300 within seven years
» University of Florida Research Facility — A joint project with the Burnham, preliminary plans call for a 50,000-sq.-ft. building that will house research on diabetes, aging, genetics and cancer.
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