Mercy Health may expand Fairfield campus with medical office space, restaurant, retail - The Cincinnati Enquirer
FAIRFIELD, Ohio – Mercy Health wants to expand its Fairfield campus on Mack Road because it is running out of space.
But to do that, it needs a zone change and approval of its plan that includes construction of a medical building, restaurant and retail space.
What's Mercy Health's plan?
Bon Secours Mercy Health has a nine-acre site under contract along Mack Road near its intersection with South Gilmore Road.
"We're entering the next phase of growth for our hospital,'' said Justin Krueger, president of Mercy Health Fairfield Hospital, which opened in 1978.
"We are challenged with space on our campus. It's important we continue to expand when the health care needs of our community call for it."
The plan calls for a single-story, 30,000-square-foot medical office building, a restaurant with a drive-thru, and a multitenant retail building with 8,400 square feet of space.
Wessels said the retail space is needed to offset property and other project-related costs the nonprofit hospital is facing related to the expansion. It also allows the hospital to control who locates in the space.
"This could, quite possibly, become the gateway for our hospital campus,'' Krueger said.
What happens next?
The hospital won't close on the property until early summer – after it learns whether the zone change and plan are approved, said Nick Wessels, Bon Secours Mercy Health's development manager for real estate.
"We're not anticipating beginning construction immediately. We are still working through our concept designs and trying to decide exactly what's going to be located inside this medical office building," Wessels said.
The acreage is part of a 29-acre parcel owned by Benzing LLC. Last November developer Joe Schwarz got approval to construct 20 duplexes and 24 single-family homes on 20 of the acres. It will be known as Benzing Estates.
The Mercy expansion is in a critical area of the city. It is across the street from Cincinnati Financial, the city's largest employer with 3,300 employees. With 1,400 employees, the hospital is the city's second-largest employer.
The project will come before the Fairfield Planning Commission April 13 and Fairfield City Council is tentatively set to make a final decision May 9.
Fairfield Chamber of Commerce supports the expansion project
The project has the support of the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce, said Kert Radel, the chamber's president and chief executive officer. He said the hospital provides "cutting edge medical care" and called it a "vital part of the community."
Its expansion, Radel said "would greatly enhance the city and business landscape.
"I think it's good for the city and the chamber feels it's good for the city, good for the business community. They (businesses) want development like this in the city."
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