Hello again! Welcome to part 3! If you missed the 1st two installments, follow their links at the bottom of the page.

Some more highlights of the happenings in the Akron, Ohio Commercial Real Estate Market are as follows:

Area Hospitals & Biomedical Corridor 

            There has been a tremendous amount of growth in and around each of the Akron, Ohio area hospitals over the last few years. Akron Children's Hospital, for one, has spent a reported 160+ million dollars over the last 5 years to grow its downtown campus. Many additional investments in the downtown Akron and surrounding suburban markets have come from Summa and Akron General. With more than 80,000 admitted patients and in excess of 1.5 million outpatients, the combined Akron medical community's volume of service has been reported more than that of the Cleveland Clinic.

            In July of 2006, Mayor Donald Plusquellic announced the plans for Akron's new Biomedical Corridor. This designated area will be used to foster new domestic and foreign medical technology companies. All three local hospitals will be cooperating to help promote development within the medical corridor. A five million dollar grant through the Ohio Job Ready Sites Program will help fund site improvement and infrastructure. The goals are to develop this area to attract businesses that provide materials and services to area hospitals, and encourage the development of medical research and manufacturing. The corridor is planned to include housing and other amenities that support those that work in all of the medical facilities.

            In late July, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held in honor of Select Specialty Hospital's new free standing location at 200 East Market Street, Akron Ohio. The new 53,000 square foot two-story facility, developed by Wojno Development in conjunction with Legacy Partners, is a collaboration between Akron General Health System and Summa Health System and is a terrific addition to the Biomedical Corridor. The long-term acute care facility has 60 beds, private patient rooms, high-observation beds, a CT scanner, telemetry, along with lab and radiology services. Mayor Donald Plusquellic said, "This collaboration between Akron General and Summa is in the best interests of the whole community and sets the stage for more cooperative efforts in the future. The location in the Akron Biomedical Corridor that we announced two years ago further identifies this district as the place where medical treatment and biomedical research interact to create jobs for our residents."

 Click on the following links for more details...

Follow the link http://www.hahnloeser.com/references/607.pdf to access a very nice full article on the Akron Biomedical Corridor by Katrina M. Katka, a Patent Agent with Hahn Loeser & Parks, LLP, along with a map outlining the corridor in Downtown Akron.

Use this link http://www.ci.akron.oh.us/News_Releases/2008/0723.htm to read the News release from the City of Akron on the Select Specialty Hospital ribbon cutting.

Here is the LINK to Part 1 of my Akron Series Blog: http://activerain.com/blogsview/631507/The-Akron-OH-Commercial

Here is the LINK to Part 2 of my Akron Series Blog: http://activerain.com/blogsview/674536/The-Akron-OH-Commercial

 I welcome your comments and suggestions. Let me know your take on the Commercial Activity in your region. More installments to come, stay tuned...

Thanks,

Mark Stacy - NAI Cummins Real Estate