Zoning change sought for $40M Long Beach medical arts building

Officials with South Nassau Communities Hospital are looking to get the Long Beach Zoning Board of Appeals to rezone the former Long Beach Medical Center from residential to medical use, Newsday reported. The hospital hopes to build a $40 million medical arts building on the site, but Long Beach officials denied the hospital’s building permit in June because the property “formerly housed medical offices for outpatient services.” City officials said the proposed building meets its codes, but the variance needs to be granted before any construction can begin. The zoning board will meet to discuss the variance on July 9. Hospital officials hope to build an outpatient medical facility next to a $38 million emergency room that opened in 2015. The proposed 15,000-square-foot medical arts building will have 18 exam rooms and two new procedure rooms, as well as offices for internal medicine, OB-GYN, oncology, pediatrics, podiatry, primary care, radiology and rotating specialists. The hospital plans to construct the facility with $154 million in disaster relief funds it got after Superstorm Sandy from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which allowed the hospital to spend $40 million in Long Beach and use the rest to fortify its main hospital. [Newday]