HealthSouth interest in Grandview Yard may lead to more medical projects

News that HealthSouth Corp. has set its sights on Grandview Yard for a specialty hospital could be followed by other health-care projects as the 100-acre redevelopment builds out in Grandview Heights over the next several years.

Grandview Yard developer Nationwide Realty Investors Ltd. has long touted the site just northwest of downtown as a natural fit for medical
office buildings with its proximity to the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Mount Carmel West Hospital in Franklinton, Grant Medical Center downtown and Riverside Methodist Hospital a few miles up Route 315.

Grandview Yard has a hotel, fitness center and multitenant office building, while an apartment complex will begin to open this fall.

“I think (HealthSouth’s interest) is an affirmation of what we think about the Grandview Yard site,” said Nationwide Realty President Brian Ellis. “This is the first of what I think will be a number of medical projects over time.”

The developer and Birmingham, Ala.-based HealthSouth (NYSE:HLS) expect to go before the Grandview Heights planning commission at a special meeting Aug. 2. HealthSouth wants to build a two-story, 62,800-square-foot rehabilitation hospital with 42 patient rooms. If approved,
the facility will complete development along Goodale Boulevard from Northwest Boulevard to Yard Street.

Ellis said the hospital and its 120 employs will have an impact beyond Grandview. “It’s a great opportunity for Grandview Yard, the city of Grandview and Central Ohio,” he said. “It’s a new business coming to the region that will bring significant investment and good jobs.”

The amount of that investment has not been revealed, Ellis said, though construction estimates may come up at the planning commission.  Those construction costs, he said, “are still getting worked out.”