Healthy Results
By Tony Illia

The diagnosis for a new medical office project in Las Vegas is healthy.

Locally- based Longford Group is building a $38 million, 129,335-sq.-ft. Class "A" medical office building at the northeast corner of Summerlin Parkway and Buffalo Drive. The four story Longford Medical Center is slated for occupancy by November.

Martin-Harris Construction Co. Inc., Las Vegas, is the design-build contractor, and Houston-based PGAL is the architect. Wright Structural Engineers Inc., Las Vegas, is the structural engineer.

"From a developer's concept, design-build works more effectively," said Chris Murtaugh, division president of Longford Properties. "It combines the cost, quality, and scheduling expertise of the general contractor with the design and innovation of the architects and engineers."

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The project is fast-tracked and was scheduled for completion in 12 months.

Difficult soil conditions and an open drainage channel caused some problems initially, saidys Lenny Oss, project manager for Martin-Harris.

The firm began work by covering the 1,200-lin.-ft.-long channel running through the middle of the 5-acre site with 14-in.-thick, cast-in-place concrete panels. Next, hard caliche rock was removed by using a trenching machine, which carved out the building's footprint down to 6-ft.- deep. Then concrete spread footings and a slab foundation were poured.

The building is supported by 24-in.-sq. concrete columns and two sheer walls near each end. The first floor will have a ceiling height of 18-ft. to accommodate special medical equipment for a 15,000-sq.-ft. outpatient surgery center. There also will be a 2,500-sq.-ft. retail/food space, 5,000-sq.-ft. rehabilitation center, 7,000-sq.-ft. imaging center, 3,000-sq.-ft. pediatric urgent care, pharmacy and lobby/security.

The second floor will house a 12,000-sq.-ft. catheter lab and a small delicatessen, while the remaining floors are in the process of being leased. Floors two through four will have 10-ft.-tall ceilings, stucco and glass curtain wall with a "modern aluminum canopy design at the third level as well as at both entries to the east and west," said Drew Isley, PGAL's project manager. "At 78- ft. tall at its highest point, the building offers both a sense of volume as well as state-of-the-art amenities such as a private entrance, key access garage, and central security."

There also is a four-story, 606-space parking garage, plus 150 surface parking spaces. The 202,668-sq.-ft. pre-cast garage structure connects to the office building by an 80-ft.-long, glass and concrete enclosed pedestrian bridge.

The project will use a total of 10,000 cu. yds. of concrete 100 people at the height of construction activity. Martin-Harris is self-performing the concrete work.

The new building utilizes a heat pump HVAC system with intelligent monitoring that allows the owner to control heating and cooling remotely via the Internet, thereby minimizing excessive energy use. The tenants additionally have the option to control their own space climate via Internet as well.

The electrical distribution is tied into the same monitoring system so that tenants can be billed separately for their usage. Great Salt Lake Electric Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah, is the electrical contractor.

"Satellite connections have been incorporated into the roof design for tenants that might need that capability," said Joe DeMarco, Longford's project manager. "And there are two providers for a high-speed fiber optic backbone to the site, creating a redundancy in case one line is severed."

The project was initially going to be a five-story, 66,000-sq.-ft. building. Original plans called for one building with underground parking, plus a second phase, said Ivan Hilton, Longford's vice president of business development. But a cost analysis prompted a planning change that resulted in one large structure being built with above- ground parking.

"There are only 40 medical office buildings in the northwest Las Vegas submarket, totaling 1.5-million-sq.-ft.," said John Restrepo, principal of Restrepo Consulting Group LLC, a Las Vegas-based economic research firm. "It's a very strong market with no ove r supply."

Additionally, the nearby Summerlin Hospital is currently undergoing a three-story, 90-bed addition to its north tower.

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