County to vote on bonds for Moffitt construction

The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute plans to borrow $22 million to build an outpatient treatment center near Tampa International Airport.

The Hillsborough County Commission is likely to approve the hospital's proposed bond issue Wednesday. The tax-free bonds already have been approved by the county's Industrial Development Authority.

About $11.7 million of the bond proceeds will be used to rehabilitate the former Continental Airlines reservation building at 4101 Jim Walter Blvd., on airport property. That work has started.

The 48,000-square-foot building, plus 3,400 square feet of space Moffitt Cancer Center plans to build, will be used for exam rooms and infusion chairs, clinical trials, radiation therapy and radiology services. Moffitt Cancer Center will lease the land from the county aviation authority for $373,000 a year.

The new center will create 55 jobs, with an estimated payroll of $3.96 million. There also will be 50 construction jobs.

The rest of the money from the bond issue will go toward equipping the center, engineering and architecture and financing costs. A little more than $1 million will be held for contingencies.

Moffitt Cancer Center will move out of its satellite treatment center at Tampa General Hospital, where it is running out of space, Moffitt spokeswoman Michelle Foley said. The cancer center's lease runs out in June, she said.

The former Continental building was a point of contention between former airport director Louis Miller and some members of the county aviation authority. Miller had decided to demolish the building, consulting with only one authority member, Chairman Al Austin, who concurred with the decision.

After a broker representing Moffitt Cancer Center approached one of the other board members about leasing the building, Miller delayed his decision.