Docs Building Medical Plaza ‘Deep In The Heart’ Of Tyler
Staff Photo By Jaime R. Carrero
EAST MEETS CENTRAL: Texart Medical Plaza is shown under construction at 5777 New Copeland Road.
By GREG JUNEK
Business Editor
Drs. Glen Graves and Luis Vasquez will add to a growing medical presence on New Copeland Road when, in June, they bring their practice to a new building north of Rieck Road.
Business Editor
Drs. Glen Graves and Luis Vasquez will add to a growing medical presence on New Copeland Road when, in June, they bring their practice to a new building north of Rieck Road.
The doctors plan to relocate Texas Arthritis & Rheumatology Specialists to 5777 New Copeland Road, in a building that is designed to be a cross between East Texas, Central Texas and modern country Texas. Almost half of the building space will be leased to a medical tenant.
Dr. Graves and Dr. Vasquez, sitting in an office at their practice’s current location, 4293 Kinsey Drive, said they realized the tightness of the medical lease market when they were looking for space for their new practice in 2006.
“We’ve known each other for over 10 years and practiced in a large group together, then we started an independent practice, Texas Arthritis, two years ago,” Dr. Graves said. “When we looked for a place to lease to have our practice, we realized there was very little available as far as medical lease space.”
Drs. Graves and Vasquez said this led them to believe the best option would be to purchase land and construct their own building.
“Along with that, we realized that, knowing that the medical community lease space is pretty full to begin with, we could lease out other space as well,” Dr. Graves said.
Construction on the new facility began in October 2007, and the doctors hope to move in on June 30.
Dr. Vasquez said that even before he and Dr. Graves were thinking about establishing their own practice, they had talked about how this section of New Copeland Road could be a very good place for the medical community to develop.
Staff Photo By Greg Junek
Dr. Luis Vasquez, on left, and Dr. Glen Graves, owners of the new development and partners in Texas Arthritis & Rheumatology Associates, are scheduled to move their practice to the new medical plaza on June 30. The building, designed by Fitzpatrick-Butler Architects, incorporates a Texas theme, from an East Texas-like section on the north side and a Central Texas feel, including Austin stone, on the south side.
Now they will be joining a growing medical community along that stretch of road, with a skilled nursing facility under construction nearby, along with dental, dermatology and other practices.
The two men have been friends for many years, starting at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
“We met when we were in rheumatology training at UT Southwestern in Dallas,” Dr. Vasquez said. “I saw him get married, and our kids were born and grew up together, and as doctors, we practiced in the same practices since we got out of medical school.”
Dr. Graves moved to Tyler in 1997. Dr. Vasquez joined him in Tyler about three years later.
“The growth in Tyler is enormous and the growth of our practice has been equally enormous,” Dr. Graves said. “We need more employees, we need more practitioners and we just do not have enough space; there’s just no space available.”
Their office employs about 10 staff employees, and it could easily grow to 15 or 20 employees, including three to five practitioners. New practitioners would become partners.
“We see several thousand patients a year, and of that group, many of them are retired people and a lot of them are new to the community, and we’re happy to take them on into our practice,” Dr. Graves said.
Dr. Vasquez said patients range in age from their teenage years up to their advanced senior years.
The center will be 11,000 square feet, of which nearly 6,000 square feet will be part of Drs. Graves’ and Vasquez’s practice. The medical tenant will have the remaining space on the south side of the building. The space could be divided.
“We’re looking to grow this medical community, along with others who are already there, so now we’re recruiting medical people,” Dr. Graves said, adding he and Dr. Vasquez are beginning to receive a lot of calls about the space.
The Texart Medical Plaza, when finished, will have a Texas theme in its design, with the highest portion showing “modern Texas” with an exterior built to resemble a modern barn, complete with a rippled surface reminiscent of tin siding used on many barns throughout the state.
Fitzpatrick-Butler Architects designed the building, and Dr. Graves said he is very happy with the design.
The north side will represent East Texas, while the south side will incorporate aspects of Central Texas, such as Austin stone.
“The whole idea was to merge old and modern Texas in the look of the building,” Dr. Vasquez said.
The land and building will represent an investment of about a $2 million project, Dr. Graves said.
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