Medical facility set for Lacey

LACEY - Providence Medical Group is set to begin work this month on a new medical facility in Hawks Prairie, a 28,500-square-foot building that is expected to open in a year.

The project represents a breakthrough for Bob and Sharla Pearson of Puyallup, who have co-owned the 13-acre development Britton Plaza since August 2006. The new Providence building at 2500 Marvin Road N.E. is the first tenant on the Britton Plaza site and will occupy three acres, he said Thursday.

“We believe it’s the start of opening up this area,” Pearson said about the project and development.

The new facility is called the Providence Medical Office Building at Britton Plaza, a medical center that will include 12 to 14 doctors and their care teams, offering family and internal medicine. It also will have diabetes care, as well as lab services and diagnostic imaging, said Rik Emaus, chief executive of Providence Medical Group.

The building is expected to be home to 50 employees; a cost estimate was not immediately available.

Emaus said patient growth has prompted Providence to expand its presence in Hawks Prairie. Providence also has a clinic on Martin Way in Lacey called Hawks Prairie Internal Medicine; it eventually will close and those doctors will move into the new building, he said.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the Providence building is set for 3 p.m. April 29. After the groundbreaking, construction is expected to start in early May, Pearson said. Britton Plaza is zoned for retail and medical office buildings. Although the development was slow to attract its first tenant, it has received a number of inquiries, Pearson said.

This is not the only development in the area. Pearson’s construction company is building a 7-Eleven at 2425 Marvin Road N.E. for the Walnut Creek, Calif., developers Hall Equities Group. Hall Equities owns the property on the west side of Marvin Road between the first and second roundabouts north of Interstate 5, Lacey Associate Planner Ryan Andrews said. In addition to the convenience store, the property has been approved for a hotel. Hall Equities has in the past proposed a Marriott-related brand hotel for the area.

Also on April 29, the executive staff and finance department of Providence Medical Group will move into Union Heights, a building in downtown Olympia. Providence Medical Group is a division of the Providence Health & Services Southwest Washington region.

Rolf Boone: 360-754-5403 rboone@theolympian.com www.theolympian.com/bizblog

This story was originally published April 15, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Medical facility set for Lacey."