Progress continues to be made on a 1.6 hectare Montrose Road property which will house a medical arts center and retirement residence.

Site servicing work began circa March 2021 on the land near McLeod Road, adjacent to the MacBain Community Center and across from Lowe’s Square.

Frank Deluca, managing director of DCL Healthcare Properties Inc., said passers-by will notice a structure is in place, which is for the “Marriot-style seniors’ residence” being developed by Reichmann International Development Corp.

“Their model is they have to build it and then lease it,” Deluca said.

“Our model is a bit different where we have to get the (lease) commitments and then we get out of the ground.”

He said construction of the retirement residence could be completed by late fall 2023, which would be in line with the planned completion of the medical arts center.

The elevated four-storey medical building will have 39 units. Being a condo-style development, 65% of the building must be leased before construction can begin, said Deluca, who predicted the goal could be reached by fall.

“A lot of people have been watching this site for quite a while – no one really understands how long it takes to get this stuff going,” he said.

A medical project was first proposed for the property in 2014, when Deluca installed a trailer there to promote the development. He said his early partners and shareholders had a different view of the project.

He says he bought them out and found a strategic partner who would develop a retirement residence on one side of the property.

He separated part of the land and sold it to Reichmann.

Deluca said DCL Healthcare Properties Inc. has entered into a 20-year agreement, plus options, with Sentry Health to be the anchor tenant of DCL Niagara Medical Arts Center, occupying 50% of the ground floor with its care of emergency and its pharmacy.

Peter Vuong, co-founder of Sentry Health, said the company is an integrated healthcare provider, helping clinicians “manage their patients and their practices through consolidation.”

“We acquire medical clinics under one roof, we implement technology and engagement solutions, and we use a very proactive and innovative approach to preventive care,” he said.

“Our passion is really about redesigning the way medicine is traditionally practiced, with a focus on prevention and proactive patient engagement. We’re trying to grow the Cleveland Clinic-like experience, but the health edition public.

Vuong said emergency care will also be combined with family medicine.

The medical center is expected to have professionals from various disciplines including cardiology, geriatrics, endocrinology and diagnostics.

Vuong said discussions have also been held with dentists, chiropractors and physiotherapists who are “ready to come on board because they know they have an anchor”.

Deluca said that while Sentry Health doesn’t take up the entire building, it “sets the stage for dialogue about how all of these practitioners fit into a holistic environment.”

He said the goal is to not have “duplicating services and to literally go out and target the services we need that fit into the whole health care delivery model.”

Deluca said the entire project is estimated at $65-75 million.

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