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On-Campus Medical Outpatient Building In Colorado Springs Just Closed

CBRE U.S. Healthcare and Life Sciences Capital Markets just announced the closing of Sisters Grove Pavilion, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Chris Bodnar, Brannan Knott, Cole Reethof, Trent Jemmett, Zack Holderman and Jesse Greshin partnered with Dann Burke, Ty Ritchie and Lee Diamond in the local market as the seller’s exclusive advisors.

Sisters Grove Pavilion is a 108,204 square foot medical outpatient building located in growing Colorado Springs submarket of Colorado. The property is located on-campus and directly connected to CommonSpirit Health’s 257-bed St. Francis Hospital, recognized as a top 100 hospital in the country and named the “Best Hospital in Colorado Springs.”

Sisters Grove Pavilion will is anchored by CommonSpirit (Fitch “A-“) related entities, as well as PENRAD Imaging, Audubon Ambulatory Surgery Center and is also 15% leased directly to the CommonSpirit St. Francis Hospital. The Class A medical outpatient building includes an 8-OR, multi-specialty, ambulatory surgery center and a PENRAD Imaging suite.

Sisters Grove Pavilion was purpose-built in 2008 in conjunction with the adjoining St. Francis Hospital and was the first medical outpatient building on the campus. The Hospital represents the only full-service hospital in Northern Colorado Springs and features a modern Birth Center, Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Pediatric Care Unit, Emergency Department, Level III Trauma Center, Imaging Services, Surgical Services and Critical Care Unit.

 

Source: HREI

On-Campus Medical Office Pricing Now Exceeds Off-Campus Assets

Limited availability of on-campus medical office assets has led to its pricing to uncustomarily exceed that of off-campus assets in Q1 2023 for the first time since Q1 2020, according to a report from Cushman & Wakefield.

Some are seeing the sector as a safe harbor during these challenging economic times.

Jason Anzalone, managing director of development, Cypress West Partners, tells GlobeSt.com that macroeconomic volatility has led investors to pursue safe harbor investment options.

“They have found them in on-campus medical office assets that provide immediate adjacency to acute care facilities, often have health system occupancy, and credit quality and assurances of long-tenured occupancy,” says Anzalone.

C&W’s report said that off-campus transactions have historically made up a good majority of transactions over on-campus facilities.

“With often limited land and many healthcare systems holding ownership of on-campus assets,” Cushman wrote.

Since 2020, off-campus transactions have held an average 5% premium over on-campus in terms of pricing. Occasionally, off-campus averages have fallen below that of on-campus – notably during Q1 2020 at the start of COVID-19 and now, in the preliminary values for Q1 2023, according to the report.

Average cap rates for on-campus assets have grown by 50 bps to an average of 5.5%, while off-campus has risen by 45 bps to an average of 6.5%.

“As with overall transaction volume, both on-campus and off-campus assets have dropped during the second half of 2022,” according to the report.

Volumes for both categories remained relatively strong compared to pre-pandemic historical levels during the middle two quarters last year.

On-campus transactions exceeded $800 million, while off-campus transactions were above $2.5 billion. In Q4, transactions in both categories were much more limited, with off-campus transactions falling by 50% while on-campus receded to only $696 million.

 

Source: GlobeSt.

The Risks For New Investors In Healthcare

There’s a lot to like about the healthcare sector right now.

While other commercial sectors struggled during the recession, healthcare persevered. And, with 10,000 people turning 65 each day and then living longer, demand should remain strong for the sector.

“The overall demand for health care is incredibly high and growing,” David Lari, partner at Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP tells GlobeSt.com. “Trips to the doctor for healthcare services are high and very likely to continue to increase. The medical sector—doctors, physician groups and hospitals—tend to be pretty good tenants, especially if you compare it to retail, for instance, where a lot of tenants have gone out of business.”

Investors from around the globe see these positive demographic trends. For instance, Lari says Asian investors, in particular, have been targeting American healthcare properties because their populations are also aging.

“By all accounts they understand how senior facilities work, from their experiences in their home country,” Lari says. “We’re also seeing Middle Eastern money coming into various health care facilities as they understand it more and see it as a way to diversify their portfolios. We’re also seeing a lot of large institutional private equity groups and pension fund groups get into the space where maybe they weren’t before.”

While the traditional players—healthcare REITs and institutional players—have the industry knowledge and know the major players and key issues, these newcomers often have to get up to speed. Just because the demographics are pointing in the right direction doesn’t mean they aren’t plenty of risks for healthcare investors.

“I think there are higher barriers to entry than some other classes of real estate, especially when you’re dealing with the acquisition of licensed facilities, such as a hospital, senior living facility or skilled nursing facility,” Lari says. “If you’re dealing with an on-campus medical office building, many of them tend to be ground lease and you need to navigate through those issues.”

Investment groups also need to understand their tenant mix and the long-term desires of the local hospital system when they purchase on-campus buildings.

“In essence you’re doing a joint venture when you’re buying an on-campus asset, which has restrictions with the hospital system,” Lari says. “If you’re not well aware of their short- and long-term plans and how you’re going to fit into those, you could get burnt quite easily.”

Lari says investment groups also need to spend time thinking about tenant acquisition. If they’re banking on getting physician groups to move from far away to their location, they may need to rethink their strategy.

“Typically speaking, physicians and physician groups don’t want to move too far,” Lari says. “If they do, oftentimes they will lose their patient base.”

Healthcare investors also need to be aware of the merger-and-acquisition environment in this era of healthcare consolidation, such as the mergers of Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care and Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center and Lahey Health.

“You need to know how your particular assets fit into the growth strategy of the acquiring entity,” Lari says. “If they’re going to consolidate, don’t need your particular location and are moving physicians and physician groups out of it, then it could be potentially detrimental to the real estate investor.”

Lari doesn’t think these challenges should push investors away from healthcare. They just need to understand that there is going to be a steep learning curve.

“The key is understanding where your asset is in the marketplace and what type of health care services are going to fit within your particular asset,” Lari says.

 

Source: GlobeSt.