Five-story ‘urban’ building planned on Governors Drive The city’s continually expanding downtown medical district is about to get another large building. Birmingham-based Inkana Development plans to build a five-story, $30 million medical office tower on land owned by Huntsville Hospital at the corner of Governors Drive and Gallatin Street. On Tuesday, the city Board of Zoning Adjustment granted a variance allowing the building to go within about 20 feet of Governors Drive. Structures are typically required to be set back at least 50 feet from the street.
“It’s going to look a little more urban, more like downtown,” Rudy Hornsby, the hospital’s senior vice president of support services, said Wednesday.
Developer Slade Blackwell said the building, tentatively called Governors Medical Tower, will be packed with high-tech features allowing the doctors who work there to use cutting-edge diagnostic equipment. “We’re trying to make sure,” Blackwell said, “that the infrastructure is there for all the technology the medical field continues to come out with. It’s really a good-looking building.”
It will be tied to the hospital via a new, longer pedestrian bridge over Governors Drive. The hospital is being forced to tear down its old skyway because of the upcoming Governors Drive widening project; Hornsby said the new bridge will also connect to HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital and the Dowdle Center, home of the hospital’s Corporate University continuing-education program. The tower site has quite a history: It once housed Fifth Avenue School, which on Sept. 9, 1963, became the first all-white public school in Alabama to enroll a black student, Sonnie Hereford IV. The school later became a clinic affiliated with the University of Alabama at Birmingham; it was demolished in 2003.
Inkana, run by former Huntsville Finance Director John Blackwell and his sons, plans to lease the property from Huntsville Hospital for an undisclosed sum. Part of the building’s roughly 125,000 square feet is already spoken for: The Spine & Neurosurgery Center plans to relocate there from Rand Avenue. The busy practice includes six brain surgeons: John Johnson, Joel Pickett, Rhett Murray, Rob Hash, Jason Banks and Cheng Tao. Hornsby said hospital officials are talking to about 15 doctors who are interested in moving to the new office tower, though none has signed lease agreements. He said one floor will be set aside for physicians recruited here in the future. The city’s evolution as a medical hotspot has drawn dozens of new docs to town recently, and medical office space is at a premium. Huntsville Hospital has about 600,000 square feet of physician office space on its main campus, but Hornsby said almost all of it is rented. “We’re pretty much out of space,” he said. Ground is to be broken for Governors Medical Tower in the spring and will take about a year to complete. Hornsby said he hopes construction can be timed to coincide with the widening of Governors Drive, since the area is already going to be torn up. “I’m trying to make that all work together,” he said, “but it’ll be a miracle if we can pull it off.”
Inkana has developed or helped develop several area buildings, including the Colonial Bank tower on Church Street, Huntsville Hospital’s Madison wellness center and Decatur General Hospital’s Plaza II office tower.
Slade Blackwell said Inkana is a Cherokee Indian word meaning, “I am a friend of his, he is a friend of mine.”
© 2006 The Huntsville Times© 2006
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INKANA was founded in 1996 on the principles of delivering quality services and providing exceptional value to build long-term customer relationships. Creating the highest level of client satisfaction is essential to our success, so we partner with local and national experts best suited to address each client’s needs. Our team of consultants includes healthcare design and construction talent as well as financial specialists and experts who understand the intricate complexities of healthcare planning.
With our knowledge and experience in both healthcare and real estate development, we aim to give healthcare providers a new perspective on how to better manage, develop, and own their real estate. We begin by understanding your specific needs, then tailor a solution to achieve your business goals, providing as much support as you need throughout the entire development process. Whether you require help with strategic planning, conceptual budgeting, project finance, design, construction, regulatory compliance, property management, or tenant representation services, we’re committed to guide you along the way.
Our project experience covers hospitals, medical office buildings, long-term care facilities, surgery centers, wellness facilities, built-to-suit facilities, and special projects such as parking decks and corporate offices.
Gigi Pickard is the controller of Inkana Properties, LLC. Gigi is a CPA and MBA. She has worked in accounting and business development since 1985. Her accounting experience includes public, private, and nonprofit accounting. Gigi managed a technology incubator where she helped launch technology firms, wrote business plans, and set up business systems, eventually leaving to join one software firm that later went public. Gigi has set up accounting systems to achieve high standards, implemented those systems, offering technical support and training. Gigi is skilled in business, accounting, and human resource management.
With over 30 years experience in the Healthcare Construction industry, Coker seeks to understand clients’ goals, objectives, and business needs and to build partnering relationships with them. His considerable healthcare background working for large, national healthcare contractors includes building all medical facility types such as new hospital construction and renovation, all outpatient facilities including multi-specialty medical office buildings, surgery centers, cancer treatment centers and behavioral health facilities. This experience coupled with his client centered approach and his understanding of the healthcare industry allows him to assist clients in achieving solutions to maximize their business objectives.
Randy’s combination of technical engineering skills and knowledge of building operations is unparalleled in the industry. His 35+ years in the commercial industry as a general contractor have equipped him with this deep knowledge base and also with excellent communication skills. He prepares operational budgets, financial forecasts, oversees major renovations, planning new construction, and engineering assessments of third party assets. He is the central point of contact for building operations and manages a team of facility managers that maintain over 20 facilities.. The team of facility managers have a wide range of responsibilities, including maintaining and repairing buildings and equipment, ensuring all lighting, HVAC systems are operating properly and adhering to and improving health and safety standards.
Joe Guillaume, partner of INKANA, has over 30 years of construction experience managing total projects of over $6.4 Billion with $1.7 Billion in Healthcare. His extensive experience in many regions throughout the country includes planning projects, negotiating contracts, assessing project risk, establishing project controls, and managing cost for multiple projects at a high-level of execution. He has a proven track record in the world of development and construction, implementing plans to deliver in the most effective and efficient manner possible. He is comfortable managing team members while fostering a relationship with external stakeholders. His skills include construction planning, value engineering, building construction, quality control, and schedule management. In addition, he has extensive experience in managing overall construction field operations.
Austin Blackwell is the managing partner for INKANA Development. In addition to being a licensed attorney, he is CCIM certified with areas of expertise in development of ground-up real estate projects. Project finance, including debt/equity structuring, cap rate sensitivities, and state & federal credits is where Austin spends most of his time. During Austin’s 15-year career at INKANA he has assisted or directed the development of over $200 million of healthcare projects. He led the effort to secure one of the largest healthcare New Market Tax allocations in the history of the State of Alabama. Austin oversees all facets of operations and property management, including leasing, property maintenance, and staffing.
Slade Blackwell founded INKANA Development over 23 years ago with a primary focus on the healthcare industry. He concentrates on financial structuring and debt placement for each project. The “capital stack” involves putting in place public private partnerships (PPP), government tax abatements, new market tax credits, historic tax credits, and working with redevelopment authorities, bond council, and State and Local governments for approvals. During his tenure at INKANA he has been responsible for over $550M in healthcare developments, including many healthcare firsts in the State of Alabama. He developed one of the State’s first LEED certified office buildings, the first PPP bond issue with the City of Huntsville, the first parking deck in Shelby County, and implemented one of the largest healthcare new market tax allocations in the State’s history. Slade also served in the State of Alabama Senate for 8 years.
John Blackwell has over five decades of experience working with universities, foundations, hospital systems, and municipalities in the planning, designing, and construction phases of projects. While helping to establish the company’s mission, vision, and goals, he has guided INKANA into one of the Southeast’s premiere healthcare development companies with relationships and clients spanning 30+ years. As Auburn University’s President, Pro Tempore, and chair of the Properties and Facilities Committee, he established a comprehensive Campus Master Plan, the first ever Character and Image study, and was responsible for multiple other projects in excess of $1 Billion.