NYU Langone's big move: Could this major health care provider get its own tower downtown?

NYU Langone Health wants to expand its presence in Palm Beach County with a move to its own dedicated medical tower in downtown West Palm Beach.

The nationally respected New York-based health care provider, which already has a medical office downtown, hopes to move into a custom-built complex being proposed at 324 Datura St., at the southeast corner of Datura Street and South Dixie Highway.

The site is less than three blocks from the water, just across the bridges to Palm Beach and around the corner from NYU Langone's existing office at the 101 N. Clematis St. office building.

Under a plan submitted to the city by 324 Datura owner Morning Calm LLC, the site's low-rise office building could make way for a seven-story medical tower totaling 181,000 square feet, with 76,000 square feet dedicated to medical offices. Three floors in the building will be for parking and four stories will be for medical offices.

A West Palm Beach city official confirmed that NYU Langone wants to occupy the building. An NYU Langone official on Tuesday said the provider was not yet ready to make an announcement about the Datura Street property.

The plans underscore NYU Langone's commitment to growing its presence in Palm Beach County, which has only grown in patients and patrons during the six years since the health care provider first opened offices here.

NYU Langone counts generous friends in Palm Beach County

This year, a top NYU Langone official revealed the provider was searching for a larger medical space in downtown West Palm Beach.

NYU Langone, like other health care providers, wants to capitalize on Palm Beach County's booming population, including a pandemic-fueled influx of well-insured patients from the Northeast and Midwest. Business leaders say the increase in health care providers offers patients greater choices and higher-quality service for their medical needs.

NYU Langone Health boasts 10 specialties in the top 10 rankings by U.S. News & World Report, including endocrinology and geriatrics, which both ranked No. 2 in the nation.

More: Out-of-region doctors, hospitals see success in Palm Beach County, plan more growth

Making the expansion equally attractive is NYU Langone's longtime ties to Palm Beach County benefactors.

The medical center is named after Kenneth Langone, Home Depot's co-founder and a resident of the exclusive Lost Tree Village community near North Palm Beach.

In addition, Marvel Entertainment Chairman Isaac Perlmutter, a Palm Beach resident, gave a whopping $50 million to NYU Langone's cancer center in 2014. The cancer center was renamed after Perlmutter and his wife, Laura.

NYU Langone expanded to Palm Beach County six years ago

In 2017, NYU Langone first opened offices in West Palm Beach and Delray Beach with a couple of internists and cardiac care physicians. NYU Langone's goal was to attract new patients as well as provide "continuous care" to New York patients who also have homes in Palm Beach County.

"We want to be closer to our patients. We have many patients who live in the Palm Beach County area who travel to NYU Langone in the New York region for their health care. Now we will be closer to where they live," Andrew Rubin, NYU Langone senior vice president for clinical affairs and ambulatory care, said at the time.

The practice since has expanded to include several specialties, including sports medicine, orthopedic surgery, gynecology, endocrinology, physical therapy and medical weight loss.

Not surprisingly, by early 2023, Rubin said NYU Langone needed more space.

Not only was the health care provider recruiting more New York doctors to Florida, but NYU Langone also wanted to provide medical imaging services to patients. NYU Langone is a national leader in radiological imaging.

"It is the integrated clinical care you would get if you were a patient in New York," Rubin said. "We think Floridians are entitled to get the same care in Palm Beach County."

NYU Langone considered different location before settling on Datura Street site

Real estate sources said NYU Langone at one point considered building a hospital in West Palm Beach but backed away from the idea.

The health care provider then weighed a deal to lease about 100,000 square feet of space in the East Tower, an office building slated for Hibiscus Street at The Square by the Related Cos.

For unknown reasons, NYU Langone ditched the new Related tower, and the 324 Datura St. site became the focus.

The 324 Datura site, known as the Atrium building, is owned by an affiliate of Morning Calm Management, a Boca Raton-based real estate company. Morning Calm founder Mukang Cho didn't return emails seeking comment.

In 2021, Morning Calm paid $54.2 million for the Atrium and two historic office buildings downtown, The Comeau and The Harvey. Morning Calm also owns the 205 Datura office building, formerly the PNC Bank building.

The 324 Datura plan is going through city review and approvals. City approval is necessary before any construction can proceed.

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Morning Calm is asking the city for variances from the zoning code.

One variance would allow the building to rise 106 feet, taller than the 92 feet allowed for seven stories, so that interior ceilings can accommodate medical testing equipment on each floor. Morning Calm also wants permission to build parking spaces up to the fourth floor to accommodate 201 parking spaces in the building.

Alexandra Clough is a business writer and columnist at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at aclough@pbpost.com. Twitter: @acloughpbp. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: NYU Langone plans custom medical tower in West Palm Beach