Work to start on Southside office building in Chattanooga

Friday, January 1, 1904

photo This is an architect's drawing of the Southern Surgical Arts building going up on Chattanooga's Southside.
photo Site of current Southern Surgical Arts building
photo Carey Nease

The biggest new office building on Chattanooga's Southside in a couple of decades is set to start going up later this month.

Work on the Southern Surgical Arts building, a $5 million, 27,000-square-foot project, is slated to begin later this month, said Dr. Carey Nease, a partner in the venture with Dr. Chad Deal.

"I like that area -- the feel of it. It's a great fit," Nease said about the 1-acre site between South Broad and Cowart streets near the former Nikos Southside Grill.

The three-story structure was originally announced in 2009 and included condominiums. But, Nease said, offices are a better fit for the structure and the lending environment is better now.

His wife, Pam, added that construction costs are 15 percent to 20 percent less than earlier.

Nease said the cosmetic surgery center, complete with two operating rooms, will take up the building's second floor.

He said he has letters of intent from other businesses, which he wouldn't immediately name, and the building is about 65 percent occupied at this point. Nease said he'd like to see medical offices in the rest of the building.

Jennifer Deal, the center's marketing director, said the building is expected to open in about a year. The practice already has two surgical suites in a Calhoun, Ga., office which are at capacity, and well over 60 percent of its patients are from Chattanooga, she said.

Deal said the building, designed by Craig Kronenberg of Hefferlin + Kronenberg Architects, will be erected by T.U. Parks Construction Co.

Nease said plans are for Southern Surgical Arts to remain in its leased offices on Chattanooga's North Shore until the new building opens.

He said the center is to add about 10 more jobs at the practice after opening the new facility, which will have parking for 55 vehicles.

Chattanooga developer John Clark has erected two commercial buildings nearby in recent years. A mixed-used building encompassing 18,000 square feet holds the Southern Star restaurant and other businesses, he said. Another close-by structure at Cowart and 13th streets has 12,000 square feet, Clark said.

Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.