Two New MUSC Towers for Charleston

[randy1]

Just announced on Live 5 News that money was approved for the uniting of MUSC and the VA hospital in Charleston. The plan now is designing for the nearly 600 million dollar project. Plans are for 1.2 million square feet with two towers.

[Spartan]

Randy, I thought this was more appropriate in its own thread. This is pretty big news I think. 1.2 million sq ft should mean HUGE towers.

[Greenville]

My understanding is that a couple of high-rises are part of the plan, but not the entire plan. Besides, Charleston isn't going to let MUSC build anything much over the hight limit (if at all).

[distortedlogic]

That is still a huge project. Keep us informed. If there is not going to be a lot of height, then there will have to be some pretty large footprints.

[krazeeboi]

It would be good to see something similar to the new construction that's part of the McLeod hospital campus in Florence. I don't think it'll be that tall, though.

[Infinite1]

the big tower is supposed to be 200 feet. That was the height MUSC negotiated with the city a year or so ago.

[Greenville]

Dockside condominiums is currently Charleston's tallest building, at 62.2 meters and 18 stories. Since 200 feet is 61 meters, this new MUSC building will not be quite tall enough to be a new tallest for Charleston. Does anyone know how many floors will comprise this 200-foot building? Regardless, it will be a nice improvement to Charleston's skyline - the bulk of which is already the MUSC campus.

[goodbye]

Great stuff for Charleston! That is both expensive and huge!

[g-man430]

Congratulations, Charleston.

[Spartan]

Do you think MUSC would build a non-boxy tower? Its a pretty boxy place as it is.

[knightrider162]

Do you think MUSC would build a non-boxy tower? Its a pretty boxy place as it is.

I think the tower they are building right now isnt boxy... at least not as much as the rest of the campus

[SimCity]

This is very interesting, and not surprising given how closely the staff of the VA and MUSC work together. Many of MUSC's interns gain practical experience at Ralph Johnson. There's not much land in that area for a building with a large footprint so hopefully they'll seriously consider building up. A new hospital tower the height of the Dockside condominiums would be a nice improvement indeed to the skyline.

[mplex1]

So I assume this will be phase 2 and 3 according to MUSC's master plan? Has everyone looked at this link for the new campus design? http://www.muschealth.com/replacementhospital/campus.htm

Things may change now that the VA and MUSC have gotten together sooner, but the long term plan is for 5 towers in the area. I also heard the tower under construction now is slated to be completed April 2007 or so. As for the design, I like it much better than the picture I saw of the McLeod hospital. I think the design will fit in very well with Charleston. There are pictures on the website.

I also happen to work for MUSC and I have to install equipment in every building so I usually am involved with a lot of the projects. The only other buildings I know going up right now are the three new buildings in G lot. There's a dental medicine building and a drug discovery building going there; I'm not sure what the third one is. Those buildings combined will be less than 500,000sqft from what I've heard.

As for long term plans, I heard a rumor that there will be more new buildings than old ones in 20 years and Bee St will be built up fairly high too. I hear there's a model of the campus in 20 years somewhere on campus, I might try to get a picture of it if anyone is interested...

[Spartan]

Welcome to the forum mplex1! And thanks for that info

We would definitely be interested in seein a picture of the model! Any word on the height of these buildings?

The image of the buiding on that site you gave don't specify which building that is. It could be what they are building now.

Here is that image:

[mplex1]

The image you posted looks exactly like the building currently under construction, though the location of the central energy plant is different. I'll see if I can get a good picture of the construction next week, maybe from the top of Thurmond Research building next door. I also heard the County Hospital at the corner of Courtney and Calhoun will be torn down to make room for the next phase, and then the student center at Courtney and Bee will after that. Both of those spaces will make room for towers similiar in shape and design to the current one under construction. I suspect they will complete those building before tearing down the VA and finishing out the last two building. There's also going to be a number of other buildings, mostly research related going on elsewhere around campus.

As for the height, the current tower is pretty high though I heard the next phases would be taller (that's probably rumor at this point). I assume the next phases will be 200ft tall at a minimum, and I we'll have to see what they can work out with the city going forward. I wouldn't underestimate the sway they have in town.

[Greenville]

Welcome to the forum mplex1! And thanks for that info

We would definitely be interested in seein a picture of the model! Any word on the height of these buildings?

The image of the buiding on that site you gave don't specify which building that is. It could be what they are building now.

Here is that image:

The building in the left is the new hospital that is currently under construction. It is supposed to be finished in 2007. The current MUSC hospital, on the main part of campus, will still be fully in use. This new hospital will only add 125 or so beds, but will focus on cardiac and gastrointestinal patients (these are two of MUSC's strengths).

I assume that the building on the right is the central energy plant, but there is currently a building on that site. It is currently the Harper Student Center, and houses the gym, exercise rooms, basketball courts, pools, tennis courts, etc. I have heard that MUSC owns significant land toward US 17, as well as beyond it toward The Citadel. I think the long-term plan calls for development in that direction, but I have not looked at the master plan to see exactly what that entails.

My apartment looks directly out over the new construction. When I am back in Charleston I will try to take a picture and post it here.

[Charleston native]

Hey G'ville, just wondering if you ever took any pics of the new hospital? The last time I was down there, the building had really come a long way. The construction company is doing a pretty good job in keeping with the timetable. Also, isn't Courtenay Drive scheduled to be widened and beautified?

As far as Phases 2 and 3, I haven't heard any current news on them. I think MUSC is waiting to see if the VA will be successful in acquiring more funding. If so, plans can get underway. What all of you have said about the two other towers is what I heard when I was working there. My old place of employment, the Harper Student Wellness Center, would be completely demolished as well as the old VA hospital. It is in these locations that the footprint of the building would be developed. While the city has allowed MUSC to build these towers to 200 feet, I could see the university asking for a little more than that to achieve the city's tallest building status. MUSC may want to ensure they can provide 20 floors of space. For 1.2 million square feet, they may have to do that.