Preliminary zoning work is underway on a massive project in north Phoenix that will see the famous Mayo Clinic building a 120-acre medical and research campus.
As planned, the project, called Discovery Oasis, will go up next door to an existing Mayo hospital just to the southeast of the intersection of Loop 101 and 56th Street.
The project has been long in the talking and imagining stage and will ultimately see construction of some 3.3 million square feet of buildings housing advanced research and development, as well as outpatient treatment facilities, among many other functions.
Launched during the last year of the Civil War in Rochester, Minnesota, the Mayo Clinic has grown into a mammoth organization combining health care, education, and research. On an annual basis, Mayo treats up to 1 million patients at its various locations.
The nonprofit has had a presence in southern Arizona starting with the opening of its first facility in Scottsdale in 1987. In 1998, it opened a new campus in Phoenix.
A zoning application for the project has now been submitted to the City of Phoenix. Mayo purchased the land for the Discovery Oasis at an auction in 2021.
By Garry Boulard
