ST. PETERSBURG, Fla — St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman officially selected the proposal from H. Lee Moffitt Cancer and Research Institute Inc. and TPA Group for an outpatient cancer facility to be built in downtown St. Pete, the center announced.
"I have been working with the good people of Moffitt since my days in the Florida House and it is an honor to have a hand in establishing their presence in St. Pete," Kriseman said on Twitter.
The proposal at 800 2nd Avenue S. includes a 75,000-square-foot medical building that is big enough to help 8,000 patients per year, according to a news release. This addition will help bring 200 new jobs over five years and eliminate 75,000 hours of patient travel time, according to the center's plan.
“The ultimate goal is, how do we take the best care closer to home?” Moffitt Chief Operating Officer Sabi Singh to the Tampa Bay Times. “Patients don’t need to worry about beating traffic. They should be thinking about how to beat cancer. And we want to bring that care closer to them.”
The unsolicited proposal from the cancer center reportedly offers "a state-of-the-art outpatient cancer care facility, a mixed-use modern multi-family residential tower with a workforce housing component, activated ground floor retail, a public-access parking garage and the retention and future expansion site of the United Insurance Holdings Corp. headquarters."
“Having a Moffitt Cancer Center facility in the heart of our downtown, near both our Innovation District and the Tropicana Field site, is a homerun for St. Petersburg,” Kriseman said in a statement.
“We are a healthier city when residents in need of quality outpatient care can focus on beating cancer and not the traffic. I am especially pleased that this proposal includes a much-needed residential tower with workforce units and a public parking garage in a part of St. Pete primed for even more growth.”
The new outpatient cancer center will offer clinical trials and research studies, medical oncology, hematology-oncology, radiation therapy, infusion, advanced imaging, screening and diagnostic services along with additional multi-specialty services based on the needs of St. Petersburg residents, the St. Pete Catalyst reports.
The new building will reportedly be built next to John Hopkins All Children's Hospital and the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg.
“Moffitt Cancer Center is working diligently every day to save more lives. In order to do that, we must reach more patients. We want to bring the best cancer care closer to the residents of Pinellas County,” Dr. Patrick Hwu, president and CEO of Moffitt Cancer Center, said in a statement. “We are thrilled with the opportunity to better serve more Floridians with a new outpatient center in downtown St. Petersburg.”
The City Development Administration expects the terms of the sale to be completed soon, the city says.
