Ahead of an early 2018 opening, VCU Health cut the ribbon last week on its newest investment in the city.

The organization plans to open its newly constructed $56 million Virginia Treatment Center for Children early next year at 1308 Sherwod Ave., and had it ceremoniously on display Friday.

The VTCC, part of the Brook Road campus of VCU’s Children’s Hospital of Richmond, features 190,000 square feet over two stories to serve as an in- and outpatient facility providing care for mental health issues including anxiety, mood disorders and depression for those aged 3 to 26.

It is replacing a 50-year-old facility at 515 N. 10th St., which VCU is planning to redevelop into a $348 million adult outpatient facility.

The new VTCC, paid for by state funding approved by the General Assembly in 2013 and from donors, was built to include plenty of natural light and green space along with its 32 inpatient rooms and 20 outpatient rooms.

Deborah Davis, CEO of VCU Hospitals and Clinics, said that while the care, staff and programs at the old VTCC are great, the building has lagged.

“It was built as a state institution and looks and feels like a state institution, and no longer is that acceptable as we move forward,” Davis said from the podium Friday.

The new VTCC will begin serving patients in early 2018. Balfour Beatty was the general contractor on the building, which broke ground in 2014. Cannon Design was the architect, and brokerage JLL aided in program management.