A nearly 20,000-square-foot medical office building is expected to open in downtown Oxford this fall.
Located at the southeast corner of Broadway and S. Washington streets, the Crittenton Medical Plaza will be home to six private physicians on the second floor and an outpatient diagnostic center on the main floor.
Crittenton Hospital Medical Center and the six physicians purchased the building for an undisclosed amount June 20 from the developer who constructed it, Fred Hadid, owner of OYK Engineering/Construction (see related story below).
‘We were initially just interested in the second floor,’said James Aluia, resident agent for Oxford Real Estate Holdings, LLC, which consists of six physicians who own 90 percent of the building and Crittenton, owner of the remaining 10 percent.
But as the number of doctors grew from three to six and Crittenton expressed its desire to expand, Aluia said, ‘The project just began to snowball.?
‘All of the sudden we went from (needing) about 7,000 square feet to 15,000 square feet overnight,? he said. ‘It’s a significant investment there.?
For Crittenton, the building represented the chance to tap the Oxford market.
‘It’s in our strategic plan to create more of a presence for Crittenton in that area. It’s a growing area,? said Michelle Hornberger, chief strategy officer for Crittenton.
Aluia, who works as executive director for Medical Management Corporation, hopes to have the physicians moved in this fall. ‘We’d like to be in there in October, if possible,? he said.
Although the building’s exterior is completed, the interior is in the process of meeting a medical office’s needs. Completion of the rest of the facility would follow after the doctors moved in. ‘We may open the building up in stages,? Aluia said.
The six doctors hanging their shingles at the Crittenton Medical Plaza are:
n Dr. Steven Hartz ? Family Practice/Internal Medicine. Currently practices in Oxford at Lakeside Medical Group (765 N. Lapeer Rd.)
n Dr. Cheryl Wissman ? Family Practice. Does a significant amount of pediatric work. Currently practices in Lake Orion.
n Dr. Alexander Malayev ? Internal Medicine. Currently practices in Oxford.
n Dr. Rajandar Prasad ? Cardiologist. Currently practices in Rochester Hills.
n Dr. Joe Yun ? Cardiologist. Currently practices in Rochester Hills with Dr. Prasad.
n Dr. Alex Meltser ? Chiropractor. Currently practices in Southfield.
On the building’s main floor, Hornberger said Crittenton will operate an ‘outpatient diagnostic center,? which will offer radiological services such as ultrasound pictures, x-rays, digital mammography and bone density scans.
Crittenton will also have a small laboratory where patients can have blood drawn and sent to the hospital for testing.
Dr. Meltser will have a 2,500-square-foot physical therapy area on the main floor, according to Aluia.
Aluia noted Dr. Hartz hopes to have certain areas throughout the facility ‘designated? as ‘focusing? exclusively on various women’s health issues.
There’s still a 2,500-square-foot space available for lease on the main floor, ‘We would like to have that building be completely medical in nature,? he said.
However, if a medical use cannot be found, Aluia said they might consider a retail, service or non-medical office use for the empty space.