Ground will be broken this year on two buildings that will become the new gateway to the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center for the next millennium.

In less than three years, a new skywalk will connect the planned $33.5 million Aging/Allied Health building and the Linda and Jack Gill Heart Institute.

"The Chandler Medical Center is entering an exciting three-year period with four new buildings to be built on campus and one in Hazard, Ky.," said Medical Center Chancellor James W. Holsinger Jr., M.D., Ph.D. "The Aging/Allied Health and the Gill Heart Institute buildings will result in a remarkable transformation for the physical appearance of the Medical Center."

Construction is expected to begin in October on the 155,000-square-foot, five-story Aging/Allied Health building on the Rose-Limestone triangle south of Kentucky Clinic and next to the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Research Addition. Two months later, ground will be broken on the 87,000-square-foot, five-story Linda and Jack Gill Heart Institute near the front of the Hospital Emergency Department. The heart institute project is expected to cost up to $14 million.

Last March, the Kentucky General Assembly earmarked $20 million in state funds toward the $33.5 million Aging/Allied Health building. The remaining $13.5 million will come from gifts and donations. The building will house the College of Allied Health Professions, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging programs, research labs, gerontology offices and the Office of the Chancellor.

The Gill Heart Institute will feature outpatient clinics, research laboratories, classrooms and office space for faculty and staff.

The Gill Heart Institute and the Aging/Allied Health building aren’t the only major construction projects that will get underway this year. Plans also call for building a Women’s Cancer Facility on the foundation of the MRISC building. The 43,000-square-foot, three-story facility is estimated to cost $8 million. Construction is scheduled to begin in October and be completed 18 months later. Once finished, the building will be home to radiation medicine, infusion therapy and women’s cancer clinics.

Medical Center officials also are assessing sites for a Center for Advanced Surgery. The building, which is in the conceptual stage, will house outpatient surgery and offices near the Hospital parking garage. The size and cost of the proposed building have not been determined.

BELLEVUE

• The City of Bellevue has received a $1 million state Community Development Block Grant from the state that will enable the city to move forward with its riverfront development. Companies committed to the project include Landry’s, a Houston-based restaurant chain that plans to build a Joe’s Crab Shack, and Brandicorp, a Cincinnati developer that will construct a three-to-four story office building that will include a Burger King restaurant on the main floor.

BOONE COUNTY

• Pan Am International Flight Training and DHL Airways Inc. are the newest tenants at Airpark International’s Airpark Business Center. Pan Am will be leasing 17,000 square feet to establish flight safety training and flight simulator training for commercial pilots.

LEXINGTON

• Lexington’s Kincaid Towers office building has been sold for $18 million to 300 West Vine LLC, a limited liability company. The company was established by Robert Langley, owner of Langley Properties, which also owns The Mall at Lexington Green as well as commercial properties in other cities. Money from the sale of the property is expected to be handed over to creditors of Kentucky Central Life Insurance Co., the now-defunct company for which the building was originally constructed.

• Bluegrass Medical Pavilion, L.L.C., an affiliate of Bluegrass Orthopaedics, has purchased 6.73 acres adjacent to St. Joseph East Hospital from Ashland, Inc. Bluegrass plans to utilize the property to develop 70,000-square-foot medical facility that will include an ambulatory surgery center, physical therapy, and medical office space.

• Ashland, Inc. has sold 6.73 acres of its property adjacent to St. Joseph East Hospital to Bluegrass Medical Pavilion, L.L.C., an affiliate of Bluegrass Orthopaedics that plans to develop a 70,000-square-foot medical facility that will include an ambulatory surgery center, physical therapy, and medical office space.

LOUISVILLE

• Officials from SHPS and its parent company, Sykes Enterprises, Inc. announced a major expansion of their operations in Louisville. SHPS will offer its health care management, employee benefits and both inbound and outbound national call center services to customers nationwide at its newly constructed headquarters. SHPS anticipates developing a new campus-like environment in the eastern part of Jefferson County. The campus would consist of up to approximately 450,000 SF.

• The YMCA building located at the intersection of Broadway and Third Street in Louisville has been purchased for $1.3 million by St. Francis High School, which plans to renovate the 86-year-old structure. St. Francis, which has leased space in the building since 1976, plans to continue utilizing space there but will also convert part of the building into private offices or apartments. The school hopes to complete the renovation, estimated to cost approximately $15 million, by the fall of 2001, the school’s 25th anniversary.

OWENSBORO

• A Georgia group of retail investors has purchased Owensboro Center for $14.25 million. The center houses T.J. Maxx, Toys "R" Us, Goody’s Family Clothing, Shoe Carnival and Office Max, among other retailers. The new owners are Warm Springs Inc. and investors James H. Sanford and Joseph C. Hardage.