Bellaire Hospital Plans Expansion, Would Force Other Businesses Out

A Bellaire-area hospital recently submitted building plans to the city for a $4.3 million addition that will double the clinic’s size. To make room, other small businesses in the same strip center would leave.

First Street Hospital on Bissonnet and First Street hopes to double its building size, adding two operating rooms and 14 patient beds.

Although the plans must go through multiple steps in the city’s permitting process that will require at least two public hearings, First Street Hospital at 4801 Bissonnet St. hopes to secure its building permit, construct the addition, and open its new building to start serving more patients by December of this year.

“We’re adding two additional O.R.’s and 14 more patient rooms,” said Walter Leleux, CEO of the 3-year-old hospital. “Our volume has grown such that we typically can do more surgeries on patients that require overnight stays than we have beds. We just have more demand that we do supply right now.”

Leleux said the 18,000-square-foot hospital currently has two operating rooms and five beds, and serves about 140 patients per month. Physicians who operate out of the hospital perform a wide variety of surgeries, from knee and hip replacements, to gall bladder removals, to plastic surgeries. About 35 to 40 physicians perform surgeries at the hospital on a regular basis, but as many as 100 doctors are credentialed to use the facilities. Depending on the shift, the hospital employs 60 to 80 other nurses, medical technicians and administrative staffers, Leleux said.

If the city approves the expansion plans, Leleux said he would hire more nurses to care for the increased numbers of patients. Construction would cost about $4.3 million, and the hospital would spend another $1.8 million on new clinical equipment. The Harris County Appraisal District values the current building at $2 million, so the addition would greatly increase that valuation and the property taxes collected by the city of Bellaire.

Because the hospital addition would cover the existing parking lot, the property owner would demolish part of this strip center for parking.

According to building plans submitted on Feb. 1, the two-story addition would run parallel to Bissonnet Street, covering the existing parking lot. The property owner, Dr. Jacob Varon of Lenox Hill Holdings, would demolish the western half of the existing strip center and turn it into a new parking lot.

Varon did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment, but InstantNewsBellaire will update this story if he does.

With five years left on its lease and a seven-year renewal option, Charlie’s Bar-B-Que and Hamburgers will stay in the strip center. But other businesses would leave: Sweetwater Pool and Patio, Let Us Play daycare, Meyerland Dry Cleaners, Radio Shack and the SSQQ dance studio.

“It’s sad. Some of them have been here a long time,” said Stathy Demeris, owner of Charlie’s Bar-B-Que. “I just worry about my parking and visibility, but I’m here to stay.”

Demeris is right to worry about visibility. The new hospital building would completely block the restaurant from motorists passing on Bissonnet Street. Diners could still park in the new parking lot and on Chestnut Street, which is an actual street owned by the city although it looks more like a parking lot. But as part of the hospital’s development plans, the property owner hopes to purchase a segment of Chestnut Street from the city.

Community Development Director John McDonald said the city ordered an appraisal on that segment of right-of-way. The Bellaire City Council must review the proposal before determining whether the tract is for sale.

The city is also still reviewing the building plans to ensure they comply with building and zoning codes. The plans already need a slight revision because the building is covering more than 50 percent of the lot, which is not allowed in Bellaire’s building regulations. View the new site plan here (PDF), and click here to download the existing site plan for comparison.

Because it is a hospital, the development must secure a special use permit. The process requires a review by the Community Development Department, a public hearing and recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission, and a public hearing and final approval from the city council. If the plans jump through all the hoops with no snags, the project could proceed by May or June.

“I think overall, you like to see your businesses do well in your town. This means First Street Surgical is being successful,” McDonald said. “The question is can we make the addition, the expansion they desire, work on the land they own. Will that site work for what they’re doing?”