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Return Of In-Person Appointments Is Spurring Medical Office Demand In South Florida

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As in-person medical appointments resume, the demand for medical office space for the aging population in South Florida has enhanced.

At the beginning of the pandemic, medical offices weathered the downturn better than traditional offices, but as new COVID-19 variants emerge and appointments continue, there is strong tenant demand.

According to the 2022 U.S. Medical Office National Report, the medical office vacancy rose 80 basis points to 9.5% in 2020, less than a third of the jump that was seen in traditional offices.

Late last year is when availability started to get tighter, benefiting rent growth. The report says the average asking rate national was $22 per square foot, which is up more than 4% since the end of 2019.

In Palm Beach, JLL Capital Markets recently closed the sale of a two-building medical office plaza in Boynton Beach. Although the price of the sale is unknown, the average rental price is $21.50 per square foot.

Woolbright Medical Plaza, located at 1700 and 1800 Woolbright Road, consists of two institutional-grade medical office buildings totaling 33,151 square feet.

JLL represented the seller, TopMed Realty, a private equity firm in Hallandale Beach, in the sale to AW Property Company, a real estate investment, and operating company in Palm Beach Gardens.

A surging population and large concentration of senior citizens in Palm Beach County are driving the demand for health care services. The medical center is adjacent to a 55+ community with 1,800 single-family homes and 500 apartments called Leisureville.

The building is also near Baptist Health Bethesda Hospital East, a 401-bed building and one of the largest health systems in South Florida. JLL Capital Markets closed the sale of the two-building Woolbright Medical Plaza in Boynton Beach.

TopMed rebranded Woolbright Medical Plaza from an office complex to a medical office plaza. It went from 63% to 93% leased. Tenants include physician groups providing radiology and imaging, ENT, primary care, dentistry and physical therapy services.

 

Source: DBR

South Florida: A Center For Hemispheric And Global Health Care

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By the time a foreign cardiac surgeon is standing side by side in the operating suite with Joseph Lamelas, M.D., to learn how to perform the minimally invasive cardiac surgery Lamelas perfected, that physician would have spent six months on a waiting list to do so.

That’s the allure and importance of training with University of Miami Health System’s chief of cardiac surgery. Whether to train the next generation of world physicians, or receive premier care, health care that reaches the hemisphere and beyond is a significant driver to the South Florida economy.

So much so that 2016 figures from Florida Tax Watch and the Agency for Health Care Administration found that medical tourism brings some $6 billion to Florida and “medical tourism” is a destination feature listed by the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau.

More than cosmetic procedures, however, patients seeking treatment and medical students hoping to advance their training are finding care and training that can be scarce in the region.

“UHealth delivers such care from locations in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, as well as elsewhere around the state,” says Chad Ritch, M.D., associate co-director of UHealth International at the University of Miami Health System.

Baptist Health International, a division of Baptist Health South Florida, served some 12,000 individuals, executives, and families in 2018. The recently opened Hilton Miami Dadeland hosted international patients visiting Miami for treatment. The network recently expanded into Broward and Palm Beach counties.

“Miami-Dade county-run Jackson Health System sees about 3,000 international patients annually,” says Diamela Corrales, director of the international programs and guest services division at Jackson Health System. “By treating major medical specialties such as trauma, neonatology, rehabilitation, transplant and neurosurgery, care is provided to patients hailing from locales where this type of medical technology and advances are not readily available.”

Certified translators at Hollywood-based Memorial Health System, which includes five hospitals plus Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, all operate under the provider’s Global Health Initiative, first launched in 2013. Translators versed in 160 languages allow doctors to converse with patients and consult with fellow physicians in real time on-site or abroad.

Not included in this activity are advancements in health care technology, like those from Sensus Healthcare, Inc., the maker of non- and minimally-invasive treatments. Health tech, medical device and life science startups drive a third of all venture deals in South Florida in 2019, up from less than a quarter in 2018, according to the biannual “eMerge Insights” report.

 

Source: Florida Trend