Planners OK possible site for new Chattanooga VA clinic

Staff File Photo by Dan Henry / The current Chattanooga VA Clinic off of 6098 Debra Road in Eastgate Town Center could be replaced by a much larger facility off Shallowford Road.
Staff File Photo by Dan Henry / The current Chattanooga VA Clinic off of 6098 Debra Road in Eastgate Town Center could be replaced by a much larger facility off Shallowford Road.

Planners on Monday agreed to rezone a potential future site for the Chattanooga VA clinic along with more than 100,000 square feet of medical office space.

If the 90,000-square-foot clinic and adjacent office are built at the 6401 Shallowford Road location, it could be a more than $50 million development, said Russell Elliott of Pointe Commercial Real Estate.

The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission voted to rezone the 27-acre site near Standifer Gap Road to R-4 special zone from residential and R-4.

Elliott, who represented landowner 6401 Shallowford Road Partners, said it could still be three to four years before the VA clinic is built as it must go through the federal government approval and building process.

The other medical office space, described as "garden style," could be built before the clinic, he said.

"We have had other users for the medical [space]," Elliott said after the site received the panel's approval. "We're excited about high-end medical office use."

He predicted the clinic, which is located at Eastgate Town Center, would be about a $40 million project by itself.

The main entrance to the complex would be on Shallowford Road with a second one on Standifer Gap Road.

The Regional Planning Agency staff had recommended approval for the rezoning, which still must go before the City Council. The staff called for a traffic impact study approved by the Chattanooga Department of Transportation.

The new clinic would more than double the size of the existing facility and help alleviate what has been long wait times. The new clinic would be designed to offer more specialist care, including optometry, ophthalmology, radiology, orthopedics and podiatry.

Chattanooga's current clinic provides primary care for roughly 14,000 patients. Some 25,000 veterans in the Chattanooga area are signed up for some type of services.

The existing clinic opened in 1985 and currently treats veterans in 21 counties in Tennessee, North Georgia and Northwest Alabama.

Contract Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.

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