Q&A Regarding Real Estate’s Fast-Emerging Frontier In Cancer Care And Research & Development

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Thomas Osha has a unique vantage point when it comes to innovation districts rooted in the life sciences. As executive vice president of Wexford Technology + Science out of Baltimore, he runs point for one of the most active U.S. developers of real estate used by major research universities and their private-sector partners.

He recently caught up with Ashley Fahey, The Business Journals’ national real estate editor, to talk about post-pandemic development and how demand is reshaping real estate needs in the realm of cancer-related R&D and treatment.

Below is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Ashley Fahey: Can you talk a little bit about what markets you want to be in?

Thomas Osha: One of the things that we have seen is an acceleration of a move by companies and startups to be near university research. It doesn’t necessarily matter where it is, it matters what it is. So we are seeing areas popping up in Sacramento, Phoenix, Providence, Winston-Salem, Charlotte. A number of cities, Baltimore, St. Louis, that aren’t necessarily considered the major hubs of life sciences, yet at each one of these there are scientists, there is intellectual capital and innovation that companies want to be near.

So it’s starting to branch out to some tertiary and secondary cities, and that’s where you guys are planning your next projects? Very much so. I’ve always said that talent is the currency of innovation.

Ashley Fahey: A lot of cities want to get in on life sciences. What are you seeing at Wexford?

Thomas Osha: I spend a lot of time with local mayors talking about what it is like to create an innovation district. So much of the conversation was around an innovation district being a place where people cluster and connect. It’s not just draw a line and say, “This is the district. You’re in, or you’re out.” In a lot of ways, this is about place making as much as it is about construction of buildings.

 

Click here to read the remainder of the interview.

Baylor Scott & White Gets OK For 47-Acre Rezoning Effort For New Medical Center In Frisco

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Baylor Scott & White has been granted approval in a rezoning effort for 47.4 acres east of the Dallas North Tollway for a high-rise complex in Frisco.

The largest nonprofit hospital system in Texas bought the property from Jerry Jones’ Blue Star Land in June 2021, according to a story in the Dallas Morning News.

“We are constantly evaluating ways to expand access to care for Texans, especially in our fastest growing communities. Our plans are not yet finalized, and we look forward to sharing more in the coming months,” Baylor Scott & White told the Morning News earlier this week ahead of Tuesday night’s Planning & Zoning Commission meeting.

According to the Morning News, the land was initially zoned for retail and industrial use, but the multi-story health care buildings Baylor Scott & White seeks to bring to the city require designated space to permit unlimited height development for professional, financial, and medical service providers.

Despite the location at the intersection of the Dallas North Tollway and PGA Parkway, the rezoning request said the designation is appropriate for the area. According to the filing, no residential districts border the property and adjacent properties are compatible with non-residential zoning.

Now with approval, Baylor Scott & White’s new center could join a list of health care facilities along the tollway alongside The Star, Dallas Cowboys’ headquarters and mixed-use development.

The project could become a medical district to serve Collin County’s communities with a projected growth to double to 2.4 million by 2050, the Morning News reported in its story.

 

Source: Dallas Business Journal

Plano Medical Office Building Attracts New Physician Groups With Planned Renovations

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Transwestern Real Estate Services announces US REO Fund, a Plano-based real estate investment firm, has selected Transwestern to provide leasing support for 7000 W. Plano Parkway, an 80,000-square-foot, two-story medical office building in Plano.

Formerly known as Plano Pediatric Medical Pavilion, the property will undergo landscape, lobby and common area renovations and rebrand as Prestonwood Medical Center targeting multiple medical specialties in addition to pediatrics. The building features an operational surgical center as well as gastroenterology practices on the first floor.

In addition to general pediatric specialties, the building formerly housed a sports medicine and orthopedic practice and a sleep apnea practice. Spaces ranging from 1,700 to 9,700 square feet are available across the entire second floor.

Built in 2005, Prestonwood Medical Center includes 6 per 1,000 parking and is directly across the street from Prestonwood Baptist Church and Hebron High School. With proximity to The Shops at Legacy, The Clubs of Prestonwood and large system medical campuses, the building offers physicians and patients nearby amenities that support daily operations.

According to Transwestern research, the Dallas-Fort Worth medical office market finished 2021 with positive momentum. Healthcare users continue to absorb space, bringing vacancy rates down to their lowest levels since 2018. As a result, rent growth has accelerated as tenants compete for a shrinking pool of available space. Triple net rents are up 4.1% from last year, nearly double the average growth rate.

 

Source: REjournals