58,764-square-foot bldg. is first on 22-acre site
The Duke University Health System, long-established in the Triangle region, is expanding its footprint in the Triad, as clearing and grading has begun in order to make way for a three-story, 58,764-square foot medical office building – “Building 1,” as it is termed based on preliminary plans submitted to the city – at 480 Gregory Poole Lane in Mebane.
Duke University Health System has paid $3.1 million to purchase 12 lots along both sides of Gregory Poole Lane, between an existing Bojangles location and a Gregory Poole Equipment store, for the project, based on documents filed with Alamance County’s Register of Deeds.
The land purchased for the project thus far currently totals 22.44 acres, according to the county’s GIS mapping system.
Mebane officials have indicated there are plans for multiple buildings. “I have not received a campus plan from Duke Health, but through conversation, understand there are plans for multiple buildings,” Ashley Ownbey, development director for the city of Mebane, told The Alamance News Wednesday.
Most of the parcels, though not all, were purchased from the Gregory Poole Equipment Company. Several of the more recent property acquisitions, consummated between July and October 2022, were from other private sellers, according to documents filed with the county’s Register of Deeds. The property that Duke University Health System purchased is located off the Trollingwood Hawfields Road exit from I-85/40, on the north side of the interstate; some of the lots front I-85/40.
C.T. Wilson, a commercial contractor with offices in Greensboro and Durham, issued an invitation for bids in July of 2022, according to multiple construction trade journals.
Preliminary construction drawings and structural plans developed by Perkins & Will, the architectural firm designing the Mebane campus for Duke Health, were posted with the invitation to bid.
The project, informally titled as the “Duke Health Mebane Medical Office Building,” includes site development as well as construction of the core and shell of the building.
Duke University Health System purchased the land (which initially included 10 lots) for a potential office building, multiple healthcare and construction trade publications reported in late 2021.
While Duke University Health System is based in the Triangle – it has two hospitals in Durham and one in Raleigh, along with numerous clinics and campuses throughout the region – the plans for the nearly 60,000-square foot office building represent a continuation of ongoing competition by the state’s two largest healthcare systems, UNC Health Care and Duke, to expand their footprint, which both systems have said is needed to meet demand for healthcare services created by a growing population.
North Carolina’s demographer, Michael Cline, who is with the Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM), recently reported that North Carolina had the third-highest population growth rate, trailing only Texas and Florida, after adding 133,088 new residents between July 2021 and July 2022, according to the OSBM.
The Duke University Health system most recently opened a new $265 million hospital tower in Durham, with 350 hospital beds, in late 2021, The Construction Broadsheet reported. That facility was also designed by Perkins & Will, which is also designing the Duke Health facility along Gregory Poole Lane in Mebane.
Perkins & Will has designed a number of commercial, educational, and healthcare facilities across the country; its North Carolina portfolio includes a human services health complex in Durham for Durham County; N.C. State University Gregg Museum of Art and Design in Raleigh; and Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture in Charlotte.
Crews from Alabama-based Hoar Construction, which has eight offices in the southeastern U.S. and has built numerous healthcare facilities, including one in Gaston County (Carolinas Rehabilitation Hospital), were clearing and grading the site along Gregory Poole Lane this week.
Duke Health currently operates several specialty-care clinics in Alamance County, as well as a primary care practice along Mebane Oaks Road in Mebane.
A senior Duke Health facilities project manager who’s overseeing the project along Gregory Poole Lane had not responded to an inquiry from The Alamance News by press time Wednesday night.
LOTS MORE MEBANE NEWS IN THIS WEEK’S (JAN. 12) EDITION:
Land being cleared for dual-branded hotel along I-85/40 near Lowe’s Home Improvement: https://alamancenews.com/grading-begins-for-new-dual-branded-hotel-near-lowes/
City council annexes land where McKay Books plans to build: https://alamancenews.com/mckay-books-to-build-in-mebane/
What’s being built beside Hursey’s BBQ on NC 119?: https://alamancenews.com/the-public-asks-whats-being-built-beside-hurseys-bbq-in-mebane/
Long-time police chief to retire in July: https://alamancenews.com/mebane-police-chief-announces-retirement-this-time-for-real/
City council rejects developer’s request to change entrance/exit into ETJ subdivision with fewer options for residents: https://alamancenews.com/mebane-city-council-rejects-developers-request-to-reduce-entry-exit-options-into-etj-subdivision-along-nc-119/
City council recommends that county commissioners appoint retired businessman David Scott to city’s planning board: https://alamancenews.com/mebane-council-recommends-commissioners-appoint-retired-businessman-david-scott-to-citys-planning-board/
Dunkin Donuts (finally) about to open – after 6-month delay: https://alamancenews.com/update-dunkin-donuts-in-mebane-prepares-finally-to-open/
