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New Medical Office Building Rents Substantially Higher Than Pre-Pandemic Era

Rents for medical office buildings are getting a closer look in this challenging economic period for commercial real estate as the sector’s defensive qualities can be a comfort for investors.

Medical office features long-term leases, reliable net operating income with predictable but modest rental increases, and steady average national occupancy at 92% through all cycles, according to JLL’s latest Healthcare Perspectives report.

These are an offset to higher rent growth from in-favor, high-growth sectors such as industrial and multifamily, with more cyclical characteristics.

“The current inflationary environment has presented headwinds on a relative basis for medical offices,” JLL said. “However, owners and purchasers of medical properties with leases signed prior to last year will likely benefit in the future from upward fair market rent adjustments from tenants that renew in place or new tenants that move in.”

Recently Constructed MOBs Performing Well

Rents for recently constructed and to-be-delivered MOBs are up substantially from the pre-pandemic era, JLL said.

Rent for a build-to-suit project commissioned today that is $11.53 per square foot higher or 53% more than a similar MOB built immediately prior to the pandemic increased from $21.91 per square foot in 2020 to $33.43 per square foot in 2023, JLL figured.

Meanwhile, property sectors such as industrial and multifamily have offered higher asking rent growth in the last three years, averaging 13.1% and 7.9%, respectively, compared to MOB which averaged just 5.2% growth during the same period.

JLL said the average medical office rent growth of 2% annually historically has been challenged in the current inflationary environment with CPI increasing 5% year-over-year through March 2023. That CPI read was the lowest monthly increase since fall 2021.

Investors can also take to heart that rents on renewals of in-place leases are frequently shown to be at 4% or more.

“Contractual annual rent escalations of 3% are becoming more universally accepted versus the historical 2% average,” according to the JLL report.

 

Source: GlobeSt.

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Medical Office Building Mergers, Acquisitions Up 14% In First Quarter 2023

Medical office building mergers and acquisitions were up 13.7 percent in the first quarter of 2023 and up 5 percent from the same period last year.

Medical office building spending increased by 21.3 percent over the last quarter, hitting $991 million in the first quarter, according to an April 14 press release.

The largest medical office building sale with a disclosed price in the first quarter was for $190 million.

Tennessee saw the highest number of mergers and acquisitions in quarter one with 11 deals, followed by California, Illinois, Florida and Texas.

Montecito Medical was the busiest acquirer in the market, obtaining 261,307 square feet of property across the country. The real estate investment firm’s most expensive transaction of the quarter reached $48 million.

 

Source: Becker’s ASC Review

8-Property Fresenius Medical Care Portfolio Trades Hands For $56.5 Million

An undisclosed buyer has acquired an eight-property single-tenant healthcare portfolio from Kingsbarn Realty Capital for $56.5 million.

Fresenius Medical Care occupies all eight of the properties, and the average remaining lease term is 10.4 years on the original 15-year leases. The eight properties total 94,000 square feet and are located in Texas, Virginia, New York, Ohio, Georgia, and Missouri.

Fresenius-occupied properties have been popular among single-tenant net lease investors. According to The Boulder Group’s Third Quarter Net Lease Research Report in 2021, Fresenius was among the single-tenant properties to experience the greatest amount of cap rate compression for new construction properties. 7-Eleven and AutoZone were also on the list. Overall, cap rates for retail, office and industrial fell to 5.80%, 6.80% and 6.70%, respectively, and pricing in the sector is at all-time highs.

SRS’ national net lease group managing principals Matthew Mousavi and Patrick Luther and first VP Stephen Sullivan brokered the eight-property sale, representing Kingsbarn, as well as 14 other Fresenius-occupied properties since September 2021.

Mousavi says that the deals show the strong investor appetite for healthcare real estate, which he expects to continue.

“We see this trend continuing due to continued demographic changes with an aging population, the appeal of medical as an e-commerce resistant product type, and the fact that these operators tend to be well capitalized with strong financial positions—allowing for a more efficient sale to the marketplace as well as the availability of attractive financing for investors,” Mousavi said in a statement about the sale.

Other deals involving Fresenius include White Oak Healthcare MOB REIT’s acquisition of a seven-property medical office portfolio last year. The seven assets are 100% leased by Fresenius and DaVita affiliates. They total 67,110 square feet and are located in five states.

Medical office deals have become so popular that some office owners are trying to sell office properties with any medical tenants as medical office to capture better pricing and more investor interest. Some properties with as little as 25% medical office are being marketed as healthcare, according to Jon Boyajian, a principal at Echo Real Estate Capital, a medical office expert. However, investors should be cautious. Converting office into medical is no easy task.

 

Source: GlobeSt.