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GROVES — A joint public hearing is set for Tuesday regarding a proposed luxury apartment complex to be located at the site of the former Doctor’s Hospital in Groves. 

Groves City Council members and members of Groves Planning and Zoning Commission will hold the joint public hearing following the 5 p.m. regular council meeting Tuesday at city hall, 3947 Lincoln Ave.

Developer Brett Smith is requesting a specific use permit in order to construct the apartment complex which would be located at 5500 39th St.

Once a decision is made at the public hearing the issue would go back to the P&Z. The P&Z would then make a recommendation to council on the issue.

According to information from the developer the apartments are non-HUD subsidized and are privately funded and developed. All apartments are a minimum of 1,000-square fee, one to three bedrooms and priced in the range of $1,600 per month and up depending on square footage.

The Cove at Groves would feature 200 units, have ample on-site parking and be designed with ingress and egress on the Texas 73 access road. 

“There will be no additional traffic from this complex driving through your neighborhood at rush hour or throughout the day or night,” as stated in the brochure.

The former Groves hospital, which was also under the name Renaissance Hospital, has sat vacant and deteriorating for years as has the professional office closer to the access road. Over time vagrants have broken into both buildings, stole copper wire and damaged the facilities.

Background  

The property, which was opened as Doctors Hospital decades ago, closed in April 2013 following a change in ownership that led to employee complaints and an investigation by the Texas Department of State Health Services. It was bought and sold several times. The previous owner was listed as Seaboard Development LLC.  

In 2023, the new owner Brett Smith paid a total of $60,000 in fees owed the city, which included at least $53,000 in a past due water bill, and the rest were liens on the property for grass cutting, according to an archive story.