Federally qualified health center One Community Health is planning a move into a space nearly five times as big as its current site in Arden-Arcade, after a recent building purchase.

Michelle Monroe, the Midtown Sacramento-based provider’s CEO, said the newly purchased building at 3540 Kings Way in Arden-Arcade has 42,000 square feet of blank-sheet space that One Community will eventually use for all kinds of services.

“It’s a great location next to public transit, good parking,” she said. “It’s been sitting empty a long time.”

Records show One Community bought the building for $3.59 million from real estate investor Ethan Conrad, who’d bought it only about four years ago as part of a portfolio deal for three buildings in that area formerly owned and occupied by AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T).

Monroe said One Community Health eventually plans to house services and programs including mental health, prenatal, pharmacy and dental out of the building. In some cases, she said, that will mean adding services One Community Health doesn’t have room to provide at its current location in Arden-Arcade at 1442 Ethan Way, about 9,000 square feet. The health care provider will move from that location.

One Community Health can also do more to serve a refugee population from Afghanistan and Iraq, many of whom live in that area, she added.

The health care provider started by specializing in services for HIV and AIDS in 1989. Since becoming a federally qualified health center in 2015, Monroe said, they’ve experienced annual growth of 6% to 7%. Federally qualified health centers receive additional reimbursement from the federal government to provide health care to low-income individuals.

Plans for 3540 Kings Way will take awhile to come to fruition. Because it’s basically an empty shell, it’ll take two-and-a-half to three years to fully outfit as a medical clinic, Monroe said. At least 100 employees will work out of the site.

An announcement from One Community Health states renovations should begin in early 2024. Monroe said she hasn’t yet determined what those renovations will cost.

Conrad said in an email it was a good deal for One Community Health, because the building cost less than 40% of what it would cost to build something similar.

His company recently announced one of the biggest leases in company history: 57,000 square feet to Sacramento County, for another former AT&T building at 3707 Kings Way.

“In addition, having this building occupied, as well as us leasing the adjacent building to the county is good for the area that these buildings are located in, in terms of reactivating these former AT&T buildings,” he said.

Conrad bought the portfolio of 3600 Marconi Ave., 3540 and 3707 Kings Way in 2019 for about $7 million.