By Clyde Noel

With protests from the floor and two directors excused because of a conflict of interest, the El Camino Hospital Board of Directors passed a medical office building and parking structure project with a 3-0 vote last Thursday.

The three-story, 66,930-square-foot building will be constructed on the site occupied by the La Casa Real apartments, and the parking structure will be constructed on an existing parking surface. The area is adjacent to St. Francis High School and Cuesta Park.

The initial feasibility study indicated physician interest in a new medical office building would create a demand for approximately 57,000 square feet of space, and there have been frequent requests for the building to be close to the hospital campus.

Costs for the building are estimated at $17,154,572, and costs for the 850-vehicle parking structure are estimated at $16,427,569, for a total project cost estimate of $33.58 million. The design will resemble that of the Orchard Pavilion buildings.

Opposition came from Dr. Len Doberne, who claimed a distinct lack of need for a project this size. The two directors excused from voting due to a conflict of interest were Drs. Edward Bough and Dominick Curatola, who said they would benefit from a glut of unused medical office space on the market.

Additional opposition came from Luis M. Yanez, a Los Altos Hills resident.

“This medical building will be available at approximately the same time as a 250,000-square-foot Camino Medical Group office building at the old Emporium site on El Camino Real,” Yanez said. “It appears you are looking for a health care boom to hit Mountain View in the coming years. This is similar to the boom we witnessed in the dot-com industry that produced a huge surplus and tremendous waste of office buildings and facilities.”

“I appreciate the comments from the audience, but the staff has convinced me that this is a feasible project,” said Director Dave Reeder. “We are looking for ways to support independent physicians and this project will supply this, and I support it.”

Reeder asked for a monthly update on the percentage of leasing before a big commitment is made.

Ken King, vice president of facilities services, said to date 16 physician groups have signed letters of interest for a 35,600-square-foot space and 27 other groups have expressed interest in space at the building.

Parking structure construction is estimated to begin in March 2005 and completed by December 2005. The medical office building is anticipated to start construction in April 2005 and be completed by the end of May 2006.