Tag: construction

RPCI Groundbreaking for Clinical Sciences Center

by BNMCin Construction, Member Institution(s), News

Construction of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) Clinical Sciences Center kicked off today with a groundbreaking ceremony for the 11-story, 142,000-square-foot, $40 million state-of-the-art facility that will house enhanced clinical care resources to help RPCI save lives and find cures for cancer.
The Clinical Sciences Center will be located at Michigan and Carlton Streets. It is the first construction project for RPCI since 2007. It is also the first clinical expansion project underway for RPCI since 15 years ago.

The center will offer a breast center; an expanded mammography center (the capacity to conduct annual mammogram screening will increase to 10,000); a new chemo-infusion clinic; an adolescent and young adult clinic; patient education and survivorship programs to reach patients, caregivers and family members; and state-of-the-art office facilities and space for clinician-scientists to analyze data from clinical studies.

Out of the $40 million raised for the facility, $25 million was raised through the Making Room to Save Lives: The Campaign to Build a Greater Roswell Park – a Roswell Park Alliance Foundation initiative that also received $10 million from the Circle of Ten (a group of 10 Western New York business and philanthropic leaders). There were 425 donors that contributed to Phase I of the fundraising efforts, including Roswell Park employees who collectively donated more than $1 million and a $1.5 million donation from New Era Cap in November 2012.

RPCI Clinical Sciences Center Groundbreaking-1

The groundbreaking is said to put RPCI right on schedule to meet the needs of the growing number of patients served. Within the last 5 years, RPCI has experienced a 39% patient increase and a 58% rise in outpatient wp-contentointments over the last 10 years. Nationally known for its care for cancer patients, the increase is due to a number of factors including an aging population and growth in translational research breakthroughs.

In addition to being able to help patients in the future, the center will presently boost the economy by way of a Project Labor Agreement that has been wp-contentroved by 18 different local trades. This will lead to the use of  local contractors and labor for the shell, core and 4 clinical floors within the center. The Clinical Sciences Center will be responsible for the creation of more than 200 construction and 340 long-term full-time jobs.

The building, which will also be connected to the adjacent main RPCI hospital, is expected to be completed in 2015.

*Pictures from retrieved from RPCI Web site

First Niagara Gives UB Land for Medical School

by BNMCin Allentown, Campus-wide, Construction, Member Institution(s), News

UB Acquires the Last of 3 Properties to Move Forward with Medical School Construction

First Niagara Financial Group Inc. has given the University at Buffalo (UB) a .85 acre of land to be incorporated into the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences site. The parcel of land at 973 Main Street is where a current First Niagara bank branch is located.

Although the land is considered a donation, in exchange for $1 First Niagara offered the land, worth wp-contentroximately $2 million, to assist UB in its quest to acquire the third property necessary for the building of the medical school.

Recognizing the importance of the land in UB's plan for the medical school, First Niagara's interim president and chief executive officer, Gary Crosby, stated that “We are committed to doing great things in our community and we are proud to collaborate with UB in order to provide the final piece of the puzzle for the new medical school to move forward.” He also stated that First Niagara is highly supportive of the region's efforts to continue being a recognized leader in life sciences, innovation and research.

Satish K. Tripathi, UB's president, said that “With [this most recent] acquisition, UB can move ahead with its plans for the new medical school, which will help to dramatically improve health care and medical education in our region while providing a significant boost to the local economy.”

UB Med School HOK2The $375 million, 520,000-square-foot medical school will be located on the corner at Main and High Streets.

With high expectations to improve health care throughout Western New York and to attract patients from other areas, the move of the medical school will also contribute to the growing world-class Medical Campus and its vision to attract the best and the brightest. The medical school will be able to graduate more physicians who will most likely stay and practice in the area. Medical school students will have the opportunity to receive a great and invaluable educational experience while near facilities like the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital, Buffalo General Medical Center, Gates Vascular Institute, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the UB Clinical and Translational Research Center and others.

“UB will attract the most promising medical students and world-class faculty,” said Michael E. Cain, MD, UB vice president for health sciences and dean of the medical school. “The prospect of a brand new, 21st century medical school next to teaching hospitals and state-of-the-art research laboratories in downtown Buffalo is helping UB to recruit top physicians and scientists, some of whom are already here.”

UB will add several new clinical service areas within the new medical school, providing specialty care and health services not currently offered in the region. Faculty will pursue cutting-edge research and collaborations with member institutions will lead to advanced care for patients.

On October 1st, First Niagara will relinquish the property to UB, later opening a new branch on the BNMC.  Until the new branch opens, a temporary branch will be located at 1031 Main Street.

The groundbreaking for the new building is set for September and construction is expected to be completed in 2016.

*Design rendering by HOK , a global design, architecture, engineering and planning firm.

Read more about the this announcement below:

First Niagara Donating Downtown Land for UB Medical School

Land Donation Leads to First Niagara Branch Shuffle

First Niagara Provides Land for New UB Medical School Project

First Niagara Donates Land for New UB Med School

First Niagara Giving UB Main Street Land for $1

John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital Mock-Up Rooms Revealed

by BNMCin Construction, Health care, Homepage, Member Institution(s), News1 Comment on John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital Mock-Up Rooms Revealed

CHOB Mock Room News ConferenceSeven new mock-up rooms were revealed during  a tour inviting the media to view how rooms within the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital may look.
The mock-up rooms shown have walls erected, and some include installed equipment. The rooms presented were the neonatal intensive care unit; pediatric intensive care unit; pre/post operative room; labor and delivery room; an ED urgent care room; medical/surgical/mother-baby room; and an operating room.

Design for the rooms is physician-, nurse-, clinical and support staff-, patient- and family member-inspired. A part of 27 user-groups total, those who provided feedback had it incorporated into the initial mock-up designs in order to meet the needs of its primary users and to provide the best possible care. Additional feedback from the user-groups regarding the mock-ups will help to determine design suggestions to consider. The groups have signed-off in agreement with the interior design and floor plans for the new hospital, completing the design and development phase of planning. The Physician-led Steering Committee and user-groups will move forward with the development of new process flows for patient care and other hospital operations for the Children’s Hospital, and the ambulatory care center to be housed within Ciminelli Real Estate’s medical office building, Conventus.

Spacious and more aesthetically pleasing, the hospital’s room infrastructure is being designed to accommodate new technology as well. In addition to being able to offer input, the  groups get to use the newly constructed rooms to help develop new processes to deliver care within them. The goal for the hospital is for it to be recognized as the most innovative, highest quality, highest value provider and partner, and the regional referral center for women and children’s care for Kaleida Health in Western New York and beyond.

View a live webcam image of the construction site for the new John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital and Conventus, which will be connected by bridges on the second and third floors to the new hospital. It is expected to open in 2016.

(Top Right Photo – Dr. Teresa Quattrin, Pediatrician-in-Chief at Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo and UB Distinguished Professor, A. Conger Goodyear Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and Allegra Jaros, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo provides an update on plans for the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital.)

Private Sector Investment on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus

by BNMCin Construction, Homepage, Investment Opportunities, Member Institution(s), NewsLeave a Comment on Private Sector Investment on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus

Post from Buffalo Niagara Enterprise Blog: Development Discussions
By Alan Rosenhoch, Business Development Manager, Buffalo Niagara Enterprise

Conventus redering by Kideney Architects

Conventus rendering by Kideney Architects

Conventus (Latin for “coming together”) is a brand new seven-story medical building being developed by Ciminelli Real Estate Corporation at the northern gateway of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC). Designed to be a center for collaborative medicine, it will be anchored by Kaleida Health and UBMD. Ciminelli expects to open the building in the spring of 2015.

I had the opportunity to ask the President and CEO of Ciminelli Real Estate Corporation, Paul F. Ciminelli, a few questions:

Q: You recently began site preparation work on the Conventus project; what does this project represent for the BNMC and the region’s life sciences industry?

A: There are two aspects of this project that represent major milestones in the development of the Medical Campus. First of all, Conventus is the first significant private investment on the campus, which is indicative of our strong commitment to the BNMC and our belief in its vision. Private dollars send a strong message to our community and to other markets that the Campus is a viable initiative and worth the investment.

Secondly, Conventus’ adjacency and physical connections to the new Children’s Hospital and the new UB School of Medicine, is groundbreaking in its collaborative wp-contentroach to the needs of the patients, physicians, researchers and students. Coupled with its location at the northern gateway to the Campus, Conventus facilitates a seamless connection among all of the major medical-related facilities at the northern end.

Q: How much space will be taken by the two anchor tenants, Kaleida and UBMD, and how much space will remain for future tenants?

A: Kaleida will occupy wp-contentroximately 85,000 sq. ft. on the 2nd and 3rd floors, which are the floors where connections will be made to Children’s and the Medical School, as well space on the ground floor for their Blood Draw and Pharmacy. UBMD will occupy 60,000 sq. ft. on the 4th floor and a portion of the 5th floor. A major regional bank will occupy a portion of the ground floor as well. Based on the inquiries we have had to date, we expect to have tremendous interest in the remaining square footage, and that full occupancy will be achieved quickly.

Q: What types of tenants are you seeking for the balance of space? For what type of company would you consider Conventus to be ideal space?

A: As with all of our projects, we will identify potential tenants that are synchronous with the existing tenant base and with the overall vision of the Campus. We refer to Conventus as a “center for collaborative medicine” because of the multiple disciplines that will be housed in and facilitated by our physical connections to the Hospital and UB’s School of Medicine. We look forward to accommodating clinical, educational, practical and research components at Conventus, as well as other healthcare-related tenants.

Q: You are targeting LEED Gold Certification for this project; why is sustainable design, building elements and operation so important to Ciminelli?

A: In 2008, Ciminelli made a commitment to pursue LEED certification with all of our projects going forward because of our commitment to minimizing our environmental footprint and to developing high-performing buildings. From an ownership standpoint, it has a definite positive impact on the long-term operating efficiencies of the building. From a tenant’s perspective, LEED certification translates to a healthier, more efficiently run environment in which to work. It’s a win-win.

Q: Conventus is not planned to be a one-shot project for Ciminelli on the BNMC; what else do you have on the drawing board for the near and long-term future?

A: The core of our business is being able to see the big picture; the ability to put pieces of a puzzle together and create synergies within every development project we undertake. This is what our company does best, and why we are committed to supporting the BNMC’s vision. We have purchased additional property at 33 High Street directly across from Conventus and Children’s Hospital and adjacent to UB’s site for the Medical School in anticipation of continued growth. As things continue to evolve on the Campus and we see possibilities for future needs there, we will pursue strategic developments to support those needs.

Q: Plans call for Conventus to connect to the Allen Street NFTA Metro Rail station; how does this fit into your overall plan to connect different parts of the region?

A: Ciminelli is a strong proponent of transit-oriented development, as evidenced by our two current projects under construction: Bethune Lofts (Main Street and Hertel Avenue), and Conventus. Developing along our transit lines facilitates connectivity among vibrant areas of Buffalo Niagara such as the UB South Campus University District, the Hertel Avenue district, the Medical Campus and Canalside. As it stands today, the NFTA Metro Rail station will be connected to the new UB School of Medicine at Allen Street. It should be noted that, while there is a connection from that building to Conventus, its use will be somewhat restricted.

Q: Conventus represents the first significant for-profit private sector-led development on the BNMC; what makes your company so bullish on the future of the campus?

A: Ciminelli has owned property on the Campus for 20 years, so we’ve been a part of it since its early stages. We saw things begin to evolve as the plan was rolled out. We’ve seen similar models succeed in cities of comparable size and demographics to Buffalo, so we knew it could work here, especially with it being so close to our Central Business District and being on a main transit line. All of the components were there; all it needed to take it to the next level was significant private sector investment. We were the first, but we know we won’t be the only ones. Additional private sector support will hwp-contenten on and around the Campus.

“My life works in Buffalo Niagara because of the tremendous quality of life we have in a relatively low-cost environment, the great educational institutions that supply a talented workforce, and because of the friendliness of its people. I love it here!”

– Paul F. Ciminelli