The Oneida County Industrial Development Agency, a New York state public benefit corporation, voted unanimously to move forward with a plan to take a plot of land in Utica via eminent domain, Utica Observer-Dispatch reported Jan. 21.
The property would be used by the Mohawk Valley Health System to build an ASC and medical office building, the report said. The plot, which sits within the footprint of MVHS-owned Wynn Hospital, currently houses a plumbing and heating company.
The agency and Mohawk Valley Health System aren't the only ones with plans for the property, however. Syracuse, N.Y.-based Bowers Development has a signed purchase agreement for the plot.
Bowers has previously said it would seek a legal remedy if OCIDA tried to claim the property via eminent domain, the report said.
Officials from Wynn Hospital have said the property is crucial for their yearslong plans to build an ASC and medical office building.
"The development of a MOB/ASC adjacent to the Wynn Hospital is crucial to the overall project because the services housed in this building complement the work being done in the hospital and work collaboratively to support each other," MVHS President and CEO Darlene Stromstad said in a statement. "The MOB/ASC is planned to house multiple physician practices, and MVHS will lease space for an ambulatory surgery center, outpatient radiology and a laboratory patient service center."
If OCIDA and Mohawk Valley Health System's plans go through, the building will be developed by Central Utica Building, a group of local physicians, the report said.