Medical Complex Proposed For Maysville Road Near Interstate 85
Dr. James Bouchard plans to break ground in “six to eight weeks” on a medical complex of more than 100,000 square feet on the Maysville Road at Interstate 85.
Bouchard, a podiatrist whose offer of donated land for a new BJC Hospital was rejected last year, got a thumbs-up Monday night from the Commerce Planning Commission on the rezoning he needs to start the project.
The project comprises two three-story 48,000-square-foot medical buildings adjacent to Georgia 98, an 8,416-square foot hospice, a 13,912-square foot pharmacy “and maybe some shopping,” said Bouchard. His plan calls for 11,580 square feet of retail.
Approximately 25 people were in the audience in support of Bouchard’s request to rezone 17.9 acres from AF (Agriculture-Farm) to C-2 (Commercial).
“Be brief, because you’ve got no opposition,” advised Chairman Greg Perry after he took the unusual step of asking prior to the discussion if anyone in the room opposed the rezoning.
Bouchard owns some 520 acres including the old Nunn dairy farm, and his long-range plan is to develop a full medical complex — including a hospital. He told the planning commission that he has four 15-acre sites he’s willing to donate for a public hospital.
Bouchard stressed “the importance of having a medical center on the north side of the river because we want this to be the gateway to the city of Commerce.”
Perry made the motion to recommend the rezoning. Members Joe Leffew and Johnny Eubanks voted for the motion, which passed on a 3-0 vote since members Ronnie Seabolt and Donald Nation were absent.
The Commerce City Council will make the final decision at its May 12 meeting, which will be held at 6:30 in the Commerce Room of the Commerce Civic Center.
Bouchard’s developer, Fred Fatemi, of EDT Group, the developer, explained that the hospice facility, which will have 12 rooms and full-time nursing, will be a single-story stone and stucco building, while the medical buildings will be brick. Both, he said, will be made of “noncombustible materials.” The project will include an extension of Steve Reynolds Industrial Boulevard into the property.
Kevin Attahara, senior developer at EDT, estimated the cost of the project at $50 million.
Bouchard became part of the controversy over the location of a new BJC Hospital last year. He’d offered a site for the facility on the Maysville Road tract, but ultimately the BJC Medical Center Authority opted to accept developer David Chatham’s offer of 20 acres wedged between old U.S. 441 and the bypass near the north end of Hospital Road.
