The city planning department is studying a proposal by the real estate company Mainstreet to redevelop 8.5 acres at the vacant Fort Lowell Elementary School site, on East Pima Street near North Rosemont Boulevard.
The city has received no protests regarding the project, said interim Zoning Examiner Jim Mazzocco.
Plans call for a one-story, 47,300-square-foot transitional care center that would serve up to 72 patients who need care after a surgery or injury.
A similar-sized project by Indiana-based Mainstreet this year was a $12.9 million investment, according to a company news release.
A future phase could include two outpatient medical offices of 14,000-15,000 square feet each on the north side of the property.
The city has listed 36 conditions for rezoning the school site, including considerations for lighting, parking and landscaping. The developers agreed to the conditions, Linda Morales, CEO of The Planning Center, said at the Zoning Examiner’s meeting.
The Tucson Unified School District closed the school in 2010 during a budget crisis. Basis charter schools offered $1.6 million to buy it in 2011, but TUSD declined.
TUSD still owns the site, and Mainstreet would buy it for $1.1 million once the rezoning plans are approved by the city.
Mainstreet is the second company to use a city program incentivizing the redevelopment of the closed TUSD schools. The first was a housing project for the 9-acre Wrightstown Elementary School site.
Under the incentive program, approved by the Tucson City Council in August, developers go through an expedited review process, and may get building permit fees deferred.
