Tax Advantage Group Closes $8.5 Million Faith Family Medical Center to Continue Support in Federal Promise Zones

/in , /by

Tax Advantage Group LLC (TAG), a consulting firm specializing in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) financing, recently closed its third NMTC transaction in a Federal Promise Zone with the funding of Faith Family Medical Center (FFMC), located in Nashville, Tennessee.

There are 22 Federal Promise Zones, which are defined by The US Department of Housing and Urban Development as high poverty communities where the federal government partners with local leaders to increase economic activity, improve educational opportunities, leverage private investment, reduce violent crime, enhance public health and address other priorities identified by the community.

FFMC, is a non-profit medical center providing health, wellness and medical services to the working uninsured and other underserved people in Middle Tennessee.  They are currently operating out of an aging, undersized facility located in a community with 46.2% poverty.  With the help of Reinvestment Fund and SunTrust Community Capital, they were able to leverage a successful capital campaign through a NMTC financing structure to finance a new medical center, doubling their capacity, in the Nashville Federal Promise Zone.

“When we began our capital campaign to build a larger facility, we planned to build a 10,000 square foot one story building on our current property. When we heard about the NMTC program, we began to dream about the possibility of building something even bigger,” saidLaura Hobson, FFMC’s President and CEO.  Hobson went on to say, “through Tax Advantage Group’s leadership in walking us through the NMTC journey, we are now able to build a two story 17,000 square foot building that will allow us to grow and widen our reach even more. The expansion of our services would not be possible without the NMTC program, and that program would have been unattainable if it weren’t for Tax Advantage Group’s diligent work and guidance throughout the process.”

The financial closing of FFMC represented the newest transformative deal financed by Tax Advantage Group in a Federal Promise Zone, with all three totaling nearly $60 million of NMTC, including:

Swiss Krono, Barnwell, SC – $42.25 million of NMTC financing was provided to this Non-Metropolitan Operating Business for the construction of a high-density fiberboard production facility collocated with their existing engineered flooring line, making them one of the largest employers in the South Carolina Low Country Promise Zone; and

Ascension St. Vincent YMCA, Evansville, IN – This $9 million NMTC financing package supported an $18.1 million facility combining a 10,000 square-foot primary care center with a new 70,000 square foot YMCA which, in addition to serving over 12,000 low-income residents, replaces the over 100-year-old original Downtown YMCA located in the Evansville, Indiana Promise Zone with 37.5% poverty.

TAG has structured and facilitated NMTC investments totaling over $716 million to 55 businesses and non-profits across the United States. The funds supplement over $1.1 billion in combined financing. To date, TAG‘s portfolio has created 12,736 direct jobs; served over 332,000 clients through its nonprofit investments; and helped create over 6.3 million square-feet of new and improved commercial and industrial real estate.

Aimed at stimulating investment and economic growth in low-income communities (LICs), TAG‘s current portfolio consists of investments in areas with poverty rates as high as 66.6%, median family income as low as 14.24%, and unemployment rates as high as 31.2%.

TAG NMTC Program Senior Manager Pete Byford, said, “We could not have delivered these financially sound, impactful projects without our investors, our amazing borrowers, and our community partners.”

 

Source: Yahoo! Finance

Why Healthcare Is Returning to the Campus Model

/in , /by

For the past several years, healthcare operators have spread out ancillary services, like dialysis and oncology. Now, healthcare providers are returning to the campus model, consolidating services in a medical campus setting. Rising demand for these services and a customer preference to the campus model is fueling the new trend.

“The expansion has been fueled by the demand of the healthcare consumers to have their healthcare services located near their homes,” Bryan Lewitt, managing director at JLL, tells GlobeSt.com. “In most cases healthcare consumers do not live close to the hospital campuses. This has forced the hospital systems operators other and other ancillaries service providers to relocate their services to the community where they want to serve.”

In addition to demand, the campus model is also more sustainable, particularly due to a changing regulatory environment.

“After being in the community in the past five to seven years the hospital system operators are finding it very difficult to run a profitable business off-campus. Due to all the regulations placed upon hospitals and reduced reimbursements most of their off-campus ventures are losing money,” says Lewitt. “However, in some instances where the hospital system has a very good market share in a very wealthy neighborhoods off campus locations work for them.”

This shift in strategy has had a major impact on leasing activity for both on- and off-campus medical buildings.

“There are many well located retail centers that have been beneficiaries of healthcare providers to their centers,” says Lewitt. “Currently 10% of all healthcare facilities in Southern California are located is in a retail center. This has doubled from only 10 years ago. Secondly, off-campus medical buildings have also benefited. The off-campus medical buildings have benefited because it is now acceptable for the investors and the financing world to value these off-campus buildings close to an on campus medical building due to the credit of these tenancies.”

Smaller medical start-up models will be most impacted by the new trend.

“The major shift is for the vacuum of hospital operators going back to the campuses for the disruptors. The disruptors have less regulations and they are not embroiled in a mission like many of the hospitals,” says Lewitt. “They also know how to make money. Therefore, we see smaller start-ups and publicly back companies looking for off-campus locations to fill the void of where the hospital operators wanted to be in the past.”

 

Source:  GlobeSt.

5 Factors Shaping Healthcare Facility Construction In U.S.

/in , , , /by

Healthcare facility construction can be influenced by a number of things, ranging from development costs to the level of potential patient comfort.

Healthcare architecture firms, Simone Health, implements their knowledge surrounding the development of healthcare facilities to share 5 factors shaping US healthcare facility construction.

1. Integrated Approach: Need for Multi-Use Facilities

Multi-use facilities are becoming increasingly popular in the healthcare community because of their ability to offer more flexible and personalized patient care. The importance of quality patient care has become more prioritized and some small-scale centers offer a level of care, comfort and convenience that is missing when it comes to major healthcare facilities

2. Increase Technology:  Must be Used to Its Full Potential

The implementation of increased health IT resources can drastically improve the quality of care that is delivered by health experts. When constructing healthcare facilities, updated technology must be used to its full potential. Providing accurate patient records in a shorter amount of time allows doctors to better understand patient needs and can lead to faster diagnosis and treatment.

3. Sustainability

Healthcare facilities use large amounts of energy and resources in order to maintain function and operate smoothly. The construction of healthcare facilities that keep maintainable and green options in mind promotes cost-savings, sustainability, and long-term value.

4. Costs

Healthcare facility construction is driven by costs and cost-saving techniques. The right approach when it comes to the planning and design of a healthcare facility can lower the overall costs of construction. Decisions such as the prefabrication of buildings is essential for producing a cost-effective building design.

5. Modular & Prefab Options: Help Plan for Growth

Modular construction options consist of using repeated prefabricated structures. The pieces are constructed remotely and then assembled on-site, using a factory-like manufacturing technique to make the sections of the building in half the normal time. Modular and prefabricated buildings also offer an extremely cost-effective option for construction that will ultimately promote a plan for facility growth.

 

Source: PR Newswire