Published: October 25, 2009 01:40 am      

Knable to occupy Green Valley road office

It’s been a long road, but one worth taking.

Almost four years after purchasing property along Green Valley Road near Daisy Lane, JonPaul Development/Construction has nearly all the pieces in place to form a medical corridor.

The initial project was Green Valley Commons, which features two 14,000-square-foot buildings which are now at capacity with four doctor’s offices.

Adjacent to the Commons, crews recently demolished a house and are still clearing land to work on another medical office. Dr. Alfred Knable will be moving his dermatology practice to the site, hopefully by next summer.

It will be a 5,200-square-foot office with nine exam rooms and two surgical suites. Knable currently operates out of the Professional Arts Building, but has eyed the move for about three years after moving back to New Albany from Louisville.

“I realized when I would be here permanently, I should look to own rather than lease. It seemed to be a better long-term plan,” Knable said.

The Knable family has medical roots in New Albany dating back to the 1940s. Knable Lane is named after a relative that once operated a veterinary office along the road.

With roughly 25 percent of Knable’s patients driving in from Louisville, the Green Valley location will afford better parking than his current office. The new site will still be close to Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services and Interstate 265.

“It’s a nice little neighborhood that’s well kept,” Knable said. “The new facilities there speak for themselves.”

The new office buildings are more aesthetically pleasing than the old houses that were removed, said Paul Collings, co-owner of JonPaul Development.

The construction group has waited for the economy to improve and for the next doctor to move in, and Collings is pleased with Knable’s choice.

“We just knew the right person would come along, that’s why we held onto it,” he said.

The Green Valley project has been successful for JonPaul, though a test of endurance, Collings added.

“Perserverance has prevailed. It’s been a long struggle, but it’s also been, I think, a homerun for the community,” he said.

The Knable office is scheduled to be finished by June. It will give Knable about 2,000 more square feet than his current location. Knable said he’s been door-to-door in the neighborhood surrounding the Green Valley site and hasn’t heard any negative feedback.

“It’s just a positive move for us. Patients seem to be looking forward to it,” he said.

JonPaul is hoping to develop a senior housing complex near Green Valley Commons on property it already owns.

But there is still no owner of Trinity Plaza, the 28,000-square-foot retail space on the corner of Green Valley Road and Daisy Lane. It was completed in the spring of 2008.