Several houses being moved or demolished from 13th street from Trenton to Utica about a half block wide to the north. What's going in there?
http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/realestate/rehab-center-coming-south-of-hillcrest/article_ff62a8f4-0713-5574-87c8-65c565d13c76.htmlRehab center coming south of Hillcrest
Two entire square blocks just south of Hillcrest Medical Center are being razed to make way for a short-term rehabilitation center that could cost more than $15 million.
Steve Buford said two of his family’s entities, Quapaw Investments and Mandalay Bay Investments, purchased the 16 buildings and vacant lots in the two blocks bounded by Utica Avenue on the east, Trenton Avenue on the west, 13th Street on the north and 13th Place on the south earlier this year for a future rehab center.
“We plan to construct a multistory skilled rehabilitation unit for short-term stays,” he said. “Our vision is to help people return from the hospital to their home environments.”
Buford said the two blocks had previously been owned by officials at Trinity Ministries, which purchased the individual lots and planned to build an assisted living and retirement community. All 16 buildings were vacated by the time Quapaw and Mandalay Bay purchased them.
Plans for the rehabilitation center haven’t been finalized, though Buford said it should be a multistory structure totaling 100,000 to 120,000 square feet, and should be able to handle various types of rehabilitation. Family officials plan to ask city officials for permission to close and build over the short stretch of Troost Avenue that runs between the two blocks.
Construction is set to begin in 180 days. Buford said his family began demolition ahead of schedule because of continued break-ins at the buildings.
“We had a hard time keeping those structures secure,” he said. “People kept breaking into them, almost nightly.
Buford said he believes there’s a strong need for additional rehabilitation centers in the area.
“Once the main missions of stabilizing that hospital and starting a cure are done, it’s time for that person to exit the hospital system,” he said. “In many cases, we’ve seen that just because you’re out of the hospital, it doesn’t mean you don’t have a lot of healing to do.”
The site was purposefully located between St. John Medical Center and Hillcrest Medical Center, though the future rehabilitation center won’t be affiliated with either.
Quapaw Investments and Mandalay Bay Investments have build a number of senior living centers, starting with the now-defunct Homestead Nursing Center on Chales Page Boulevard, Buford said. The family businesses now have five of their centers in operation in Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma City and Grove, though they’re operated by a separate entity, Phoenix Health Care LLC in Tulsa.
Buford said the new rehabilitation center won’t be directly operated by the family, though a management entity has not been selected.
Last year, Buford and his family entered a bid of $1.38 million for the former site of Barnard Elementary, 2324 E. 17th St., to construct a short-term rehabilitation center there. However, after opposition from neighborhood residents, Tulsa Public Schools did not accept the bid.
The former Barnard site was sold last year to Lindsay Development LLC, with a bid of $1.005 million. Lindsay officials plan to build 18 residential units.
