Developer has prescription for vacant Target store

Dr. Robert Smythe had an idea, one that, it turns out, is on the cutting edge of an innovative approach to breathing new life into abandoned "big box" stores and decaying malls.

For Smythe, who has the medical practice Up2Par, the idea germinated as he drove by the former Target building on 32nd Street that has been vacant since the store moved in the fall of 2005 to a new location at Yuma Palms Regional Center.

That 96,000 square feet of vacant space beckoned to him. Why not, he thought, use it to develop a medical mall with multiple doctors' offices and other health-related businesses under one large roof?

The old Target building seemed perfect, Smythe said. "I had been passing the building for three years. What a waste of space. This is a new concept in health care because these big boxes exist. It's seen as a good fit in some areas for these buildings."

He had considered locating his new practice at Southgate Mall when he first arrived in Yuma but that didn't work out. An Internet search brought up similar arrangements, bringing doctors' offices and a mix of retail to malls in depressed areas, he said. Other retailers are opening their doors to clinics.

The June 16 issue of American Medical News featured the medical mall concept as a way to revitalize dead malls in other parts of the country.

By using the old Target, Smythe would be starting with a relatively new (it was built in 1994), substantial masonry building with 460 parking spaces not too far from Yuma Regional Medical Center.

The building currently is in escrow with a purchase price of $4.75
million. Final price tag for the project to include the purchase, addition of the pool and renovations is expected to be about $12.5 million.

Besides putting that wasted Target space to a good use, Smythe said, another driving force behind his idea was the desire to cut overhead expenses for his medical practice. That's become a critical issue for doctors as Medicare continues to reduce its reimbursements while the cost of providing health care rises, he explained.

Then one day he was playing golf with Mike Curtis of Michael W. Curtis Realty and Development.

"We met on the fourth hole," Smythe recalled. "On the seventh hole I shared my idea. By the ninth hole, he was interested."

That was in February. Soon, Dan Winters, a newly licensed real estate agent with Curtis' agency, was working on the project.

Three weeks ago, Winters said, "we met with the owners and struck a deal."

Part of the effort is to put together a group of doctors who would be the core investors and have their offices in the mall to share overhead as much as possible, such as with expensive medical equipment.

"The doctors would be the managing entities," Smythe said. "That way they can make sure it works the way they want it to."

Doctors on board so far include cardiologist Dr. Habteab Feseha and Dr. Sergio Penaherrera, and several others are interested, Smythe said.

The concept for the project is to create doctors' offices down the middle of the space, with health-related retail on the west and north sides of the building as well as a walk-in clinic, and a fitness center in what was the garden area that would include a rehabilitation swimming pool. The former food court would be used for a healthy fast food restaurant.

Ideally, Smythe said, the mix of occupants would include a broad spectrum of doctors, a pharmacy, imaging center, lab and record keeping business and other medically related businesses.

Anyone interested in being an investing doctor can call Winters at 783-2215 or by cell at 1-520-488-7401.

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Joyce Lobeck can be reached at jlobeck@yumasun.com or 539-6853.