Clay Bailey

Memphis Commercial Appeal

We open today's Outside the Loop column with Breaking, We're-Tellin'-You-Now, Maybe First, only slightly before employees know, News from the OTL News Desk. Cue the clicking wire machine and Bulletin Bell.

DATELINE: GERMANTOWN

Some four years after receiving zoning approval for a significant expansion to its Germantown campus, Campbell Clinic is ready to get things started.

In a big way.

Officials with the orthopedic center announced Thursday that the campus will add 120,000 square feet of office space -- a $30 million project in the complex on Germantown Road south of Wolf River Boulevard. The construction, expected to start in mid-2018, will occur on 5 acres adjacent to the facility.

The target opening date for the expansion is in the latter half of 2019.

Campbell Clinic, which opened in 1992, was one of the original tenants of Germantown's medical corridor along Wolf River Boulevard on either side of Germantown Road. The clinic purchased the additional 5 acres at the time and held it for future expansion.

Dr. Fred Azar, Campbell's chief of staff, said from that initial move eastward, the need for the clinic's services continued to grow.

"As the population has grown in our area. so has the need for quality orthopedic care," Azar said in a release. "The expansion will allow our organization to continue to grow to meet the demand while remaining a fixture in a very convenient location."

In May, 2013, the orthopedic group was moving through the Germantown review process, seeking rezoning from office to the more conducive O-51 designation for the property where its current facility is located, and the adjoining five acres.

At the time, the accompanying plans showed a new three-story office building, a 17,000-square-foot expansion of its surgery center on Brierbrook to the east and a parking garage with 600 spaces.

The newest version of the plan calls for a four-story 120,000-square-foot expansion with outpatient orthopedic clinical space, expanded physical therapy and imaging suites, along with ambulatory surgery center with eight operating rooms.

The plan does not have a parking garage, but Campbell Clinic officials said the expansion "will be adding a significant number of spaces in a surface lot bringing the total parking capacity to near 750."

The current facility at 1400 S. Germantown Road between Wolf River Boulevard and Brierbrook has a 12,000-square-foot ambulatory center and a 60,000-square-foot clinic on 15 acres.

Rendina Healthcare Real Estate is working with Campbell Clinic on design, development and construction of the expansion.

"The clinic has long been a regional destination for musculoskeletal care," George Hernandez, chief executive officer at Campbell Clinic, said. "The new facility will allow us to offer some new services while enhancing the patient experience for the services we already provide."

The Rendina/Campbell Clinic team is working on final building design, financing of the project and approval of the latest plans from Germantown and Shelby County.

Asked about government tax incentives for the project, Campbell officials replied: "Governmental incentives will be a key element as we analyze the economics and feasibility of the project."

Clay Bailey is a veteran suburban reporter for The Commercial Appeal. His Outside the Loop column — a perspective and analysis on suburban news — appears online at commercialappeal.com on Tuesdays and Thursdays and in print on Mondays.

Reach Clay Bailey at bailey@commercialappeal.com and on Twitter at @claybailey9.