New details emerge about Mercer medical school campus planned for Columbus (Savannah: tenants, construction)

[Airforceguy]

New details about the expanded medical school planned for Columbus have emerged.

The Mercer University Board of Trustees voted Friday to authorize construction of a medical school campus in downtown Columbus, six months after the project was announced.

Here are the details, according to Mercer’s news release:

Location: The Ledger-Enquirer reported in May that people involved with the project said the campus will be on the site of the 60,000-square-foot, two-story Rothschild Building, a former Synovus call center, on 11th Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues. Mercer media relations director Kyle Sears confirmed the location Friday in an email to the L-E.

Size: The current building will be demolished. The new building will be three floors, containing research labs, instructional space and administrative offices, and will cover 76,000 square feet, an increase of 9% from the original estimate.
Cost: $32.4 million, an increase of 30% from the original estimate.

Timeline: Construction is expected to begin in early 2020 and finish by the start of classes in August 2021.

https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news...237160819.html

[Fountain-of-youth]

Good for that side of downtown. A lot more to come.

[Columbus1984]

Hopefully some renderings will be revealed soon.

[Fountain-of-youth]

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) – Mercer University will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for its four-year medical school campus in Columbus on Sept. 3.

Gov. Brian Kemp and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan will join Mercer University President William Underwood and Georgia General Assembly members for the ceremony.

In March 2020, Mercer announced the new site on First Avenue for its expanded four-year medical school campus, a change from a previously announced location on 11th Street.


The First Avenue location was previously owned by Global Payment and exists just north of the downtown TSYS campus.

Mercer officials plan to construct a new 85,000-square-foot structure on the riverfront property.

The new facility will enable the medical school to gradually increase its Columbus enrollment to 240 medical students. Over the next several years, the new campus will equal the size of Mercer’s medical school campuses in Macon and Savannah.

Funding for the new site has been provided from a combination of private and public money, including community support, Mercer University funding, and operational funding from the state.

The groundbreaking ceremony will be held outdoors and with safety protocols in place to protect against the spread of COVID-19. Attendees will be required to wear masks and observe social distancing guidelines.

The ceremony will be held on Sept. 7 at 10 a.m. at 1633 First Avenue in Columbus.

[Fountain-of-youth]

[Columbus1984]

Originally Posted by Fountain-of-youth

Attachment 223345

Looks great. That area should see some nice growth.

[JayHey]

Pictured is the river side and it looks good, but I want to see the 1st Ave side and how it will tie into the lot and street.

Once this project is underway, it'd be nice to see City Mills begin to move forward. Then the empty lots across the street facing 2nd Ave may start being developed, those turning into parking lots would be a shame.

[amyers3]

Originally Posted by JayHey

Pictured is the river side and it looks good, but I want to see the 1st Ave side and how it will tie into the lot and street.

Once this project is underway, it'd be nice to see City Mills begin to move forward. Then the empty lots across the street facing 2nd Ave may start being developed, those turning into parking lots would be a shame.

City Mills is already under construction. It looks like the River Walk level yoga tenant is almost ready to take keys, 2nd floor (1st avenue level) lobby/office area looks complete-ish and they've been replacing all of the windows in the 2 buildings.

[Sonofagun112]

Any word on other possible tenants?

[columbusboy8]

The City Mills, and Bibb City, are definitely reinventing themselves and becoming more desirable as places to live, and do business. I really like how quickly positive things are happening.

The other good news is that these developments expand and unify the downtown area, which benefits investors, business owners, and folks living, visiting, and shopping in the area.