(Kannapolis, N.C.) With the first heavy equipment on site, construction officially begins today on the new Medical Office Building on the NC Research Campus (NCRC). Located on Wellness Way near Dale Earnhardt Boulevard, the 60,000-square foot building is near the new Cabarrus Health Alliance building that opened earlier this year. Together, they anchor the medical corridor into the North Carolina Research Campus.  The Charlotte Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, the parent organization of Carolinas Healthcare System, is the building’s main tenant. They have leased half the building for primary- and specialty-care practices and an imaging center, all tied to of CMC-Northeast in Concord. Castle & Cooke, Inc.  The developers of the NCRC are actively marketing the additional 30,000 square feet of Class A medical office space.

“Carolinas Healthcare has been an active partner and supporter of the NCRC since its inception,” said Clyde Higgs, vice president of Business Development for the NCRC. “Having them on campus and able to interact at a higher level with all of our corporate and academic partners will further the translation of scientific discoveries involving diet and exercise and the prevention of disease to patients.”

The building is scheduled to be completed in late spring 2013 with occupancy following later in the summer.  Creech and Associates is the architect, McCracken and Lopez the consulting engineering, LandDesign the civil engineer and landscape architect and Carolina Land Consultants the landscape engineer.

“We’re so happy to have the building under construction and Carolinas Healthcare System a step closer to joining us on campus,” said Lynne Scott Safrit, president of the NCRC, Atlantic American Properties and the North American Commercial Division of Castle and Cooke. “It means we’re a step closer to seeing our vision fulfilled of being the world’s preeminent resource for research that transforms science at the intersection of human health, nutrition and agriculture.”

About the North Carolina Research Campus

The North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis is home to eight universities as well as corporate, government and non-profit partners all focused on research into human health, nutrition and agriculture to prevent, treat and cure disease.  For more information, visit www.ncresearchcampus.net.

About Carolinas Healthcare System

Carolinas HealthCare System is the largest healthcare system in the Carolinas, and one of the largest publicly owned systems in the nation.  For more information, visit www.carolinashealthcare.org.