The vacant parcel at Hill Street and Pacific last week.
Last spring it looked as though a new dialysis clinic was planning to set up shop in Albany. Now uncertainty clouds that proposal, at the northeast corner of Hill Street and Pacific Boulevard.
On March 9 the community development department published a notice of an application to consolidate five vacant lots at the corner, along with a request to approve a site plan for what the paperwork identified as a 7,500-square-foot medical building to be occupied by DaVita, a nationwide dialysis chain.
The planning division’s website shows no action on the application since March. The planner in charge of handling the request, Laura LaRoque, told me last Wednesday she suspected the application would be “administratively withdrawn” by the end of that day.
As I understand it, the application was not complete and the applicant didn’t make it so. If a new request is submitted, the city will issue a new public notice.
The five lots are for sale. County tax records identify the owner as Seker Properties LLC of Corvallis, whose registered representative is real estate agent Peter Sekermestrovich. The seller’s agent, Jessica Pankratz, told me they were “still in negotiations with the potential buyer.”
Meanwhile, a branch of the nationwide Fresenius kidney dialysis company is operating in the North Albany Village Shopping Center. Some patients have complained about the parking situation there. I’ve looked at that issue and am working on a report. (hh)
Postscript: City planner Laura LaRoque confirmed this Tuesday morning that: “Yes, the applicants have chosen not to move forward with their application at this time. A new application submittal will be required should they decide move forward.”
There is definitely no “parking situation” at the new Fresinius Clinic. There is an entire shopping center worth of parking and is is 100% better than the very limited they had when it was on 7th. My husband is a patient and this is first hand knowledge.
I agree with the commenter, re:the alleged parking situation at the Fresenius Clinic in N. Albany.
Pardon me, but the only parking situation is, how many hundred spots do you wish to choose from? Those complaining the loudest are those unwilling to park anywhere other than as near the front door as humanly possible, a common shortcoming amongst the Complainaratti.
While it is true that some of the Fresenius clientele may have limiting conditions and need to park close-by, it is also true that there are, by the laws of physics, a limited number of front row parking spots, just as there were when Fresenius was located near the hospital.
Given this somewhat unpleasant reality, one begins to wonder whether Hasso Hering has hopped onto this story to gin-up his base. Keep your eye on this column.
Hering may be guilty of that which many writers succumb to: tergiversation.
You can tell when he falls prey to his darker instincts when you read this sentence from Hasso’s own words: “Some patients have complained about the parking situation there,” in reference to Fresenius parking.
Something’s amiss!
Good point, Linda. I was vague because I don’t yet fully understand the complaint. When I do, I’ll be clear. Thanks.