Baptist Health has landed a $3.79 million city permit to renovate nearly 31,000 square feet inside a former Jacksonville shopping mall, turning the space into a Central Services Center packed with pathology offices, classrooms and workrooms for its own staff. The project marks phase one of a broader plan to convert the sprawling San Marco East Plaza campus into a hub for the health system’s back-of-house operations.
The permit, issued by the City of Jacksonville on September 2, covers interior demolition and alterations inside Building D, a two-story structure totaling 100,872 square feet, according to Jacksonville Daily Record. Contractor Auld & White Constructors LLC will handle the buildout, improving almost 31,000 square feet within the building. The Jacksonville-based firm has operated in Northeast Florida for nearly 40 years and maintains a division specializing in healthcare construction and infection control, according to Auld & White Constructors.
Plans call for work on limited portions of both floors. First-floor work includes classrooms, storage, and dining and market space, while the second floor will house offices for pathologists, workrooms, and classroom, conference and office space. Jacksonville-based Kasper Architecture + Associates Inc. is the project architect, per the Daily Record’s report. The Central Services Center will be used for back-of-house operations and support services for Baptist Health, and the newspaper reports it will not be accessible to the public — only to Baptist Health team members.
A Former Mall’s Long Road to Medical Backbone
The San Marco East Plaza site at 3563 Philips Highway, at Emerson Street just west of Interstate 95, has a history stretching back decades before it became hospital infrastructure. Originally built in 1961 as Philips Highway Plaza, the property served as Jacksonville’s first enclosed suburban shopping mall before being rebranded Market Square Mall and eventually converted into an office park, according to The Coastal. The 29.68-acre campus now comprises seven buildings with 375,752 square feet of combined interior space…