Site-servicing work has begun on a 1.6-hectare Niagara Falls property on Montrose Road, which will be home of an innovative green and sustainable 5,400-square-metre medical arts centre.

Frank Deluca, chief executive officer of DCL Healthcare Properties Inc., said passerby will notice heavy equipment is on the land, near McLeod Road, next to MacBain Community Centre, and across from the Lowe’s plaza, to prepare the site for the first phase of construction.

The four-storey, raised building will have 39 units ranging in size from about 61.2 to 126 square metres.

If a group of doctors wants to set up an urgent-care clinic, which Deluca said he would like to see, units can be joined together to create a larger space.

The plan is for the centre to have medical professionals from all disciplines, including general practitioners, cardiologists and physiotherapists.

Being a condo-style development, Deluca said 65 per cent of the building needs to be sold or leased before construction can start.

He said the development team has commitments for the urgent-care and pharmacy space, and an aggressive marketing campaign is set to begin for the rest of the mixed-use building.

During an interview with the Niagara Falls Review in February 2020, Deluca said the plan was to break ground by the fall, but in an interview Thursday he said the COVID-19 pandemic “really slowed everything down.”

“But I’m really pleased with where we’re at, I think the timing is perfect,” said Deluca.

“We’re trying to project October 2022 as occupancy. Now that the machinery is there and everything … Monday we kind of started releasing, more widely, what we’re doing and the whole twist on it being a green, sustainable medical centre, and what we’re offering.”

The entire project is estimated at $65 million to $70 million.

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