Gwinnett Daily Post

DULUTH — For the second time in nine months, Gwinnett Medical Center has purchased a vacant shopping center near one of its existing facilities.

GMC spokeswoman Beth Okun said Friday that the hospital purchased 10 acres and a 72,000-square-foot building at the corner of Howell Ferry Road and Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth. The property is across the street from GMC-Duluth and is the former Ingles Shopping Plaza.

Okun did not release the cost of the acquisition, but the Springfield Park Shopping Plaza, at the intersection of Ga. Highway 120 and Hurricane Shoals Road in Lawrenceville, was purchased in May for $3 million.

Okun said there isn’t a known plan for how the Duluth building will be used, or when it would be open for patients, if at all.

“This acquisition was important as it provides GMC-Duluth with an entirely new zone for expansion, which allows us to plan a scope of facilities and services beyond the existing GMC-Duluth and Glancy properties,” said Thomas Shepherd, GMC executive vice president and chief operating officer, in a statement. “Growth opportunities within existing Duluth properties were limited or simply didn’t exist.”

Shepherd said the property was purchased, “after several years of discussions.”

The former Lawrenceville shopping center was purchased and used almost immediately to cut down on the amount of the hospital’s existing rental space, Okun said.