Healthcare: Plans move forward on $9 million Los Gatos medical building
by Katherine Conrad for San Jose Business Journal
The ramshackle houses sitting at the northern gateway to this upscale town are slated for demolition and in their place will rise a Spanish-style medical office building.
Construction could begin as soon as this summer, depending on whether Colliers International brokers Alice Teng and Elgin Brian Mason can sign doctors and dentists to at least half the proposed 22,000-square-foot building.
So far, the reaction is strong and Teng believes the goal can be reached.
“The need is truly there,” she said. “With nearby hospitals so busy, there is a need for medical offices. This is where doctors want to be — you can’t beat the location.”
The 1-plus acre site located on the corner of National Avenue and Samaritan Drive next to Highway 85 is a stone’s throw from Good Samaritan Hospital and not far from El Camino Hospital’s Los Gatos location.
“We put up a sign, and we started getting calls,” Teng said. An e-mail blast garnered even more interest.
Deputy City Manager Bud Lortz called the project a “marvelous development” that the city is anxious to see built. After some false starts and stops, Lortz said he was glad to hear construction may begin soon.
“It’s the right project not only for the town, but also the folks who will use it,” he said. “And certainly for the doctor who is putting it all together.”
Oral surgeon Dr. Lee Walker is the property owner and developer of the project, according to applications filed with the city. The project, estimated to cost $9 million, has been in the planning stages for several years and lists KRT Group LLC as the developer.
Lortz said the fact that Walker is a medical professional bodes well for the project because as a doctor himself, Walker knows what is needed in a medical/dental office building.
Los Gatos architect John Lien, who began working on the design in 2007, said Walker went to extra pains to ensure the project was attractive.
“This is a gateway entrance to the town, and the city expects to have gateway-quality buildings located there,” Lien said. “It’s also the desire of the owner, Dr. Lee, to put up an iconic building that would be memorable.”
With its creamy walls and red-tiled roofs, the building is designed in a style known as Spanish eclectic, a spin on California Mission. Underground parking means that passers-by will see the beautiful structure rather than a parking lot full of cars — a very important point for Lien.
Other special touches include mature landscaping such as palm trees, an interior courtyard, water features and functional balconies that open to the outdoors.
“There is a lot of attention to deal,” Teng said.
Lien agreed, saying Walker is determined the building will be perfect.
The asking monthly rent on the facility is $3.20 per square foot, plus maintenance, taxes and insurance. If all goes as planned, the project will be completed by late summer, early fall 2011.
Among the many commercial real estate sectors, medical offices appear to be almost recession-proof as demand remains high among medical professionals seeking office space.
Teng said space needs for medical tenants can be smaller, but the space is more expensive — $3 to $4 a square foot compared with $2 or less for general offices — and these tenants sign longer-term leases. Another aspect driving the trend is that doctors realize patients have a choice among medical caregivers and want to offer patients as pleasant an experience as possible.
So a brand new, well-designed medical office building is certain to strike a chord among doctors and dentists.
