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The Pandemic’s Impact On Health Care Design: Smaller, Flexible Spaces With Great Adaptability

The pandemic rocked U.S. health care facilities in 2020, leaving them with falling revenue from moneymaking surgeries and ordinary care as physicians and nurses shifted their attention toward patients infected with the coronavirus.

But the real change will come three to four years from now, when the impact of new designs implemented on existing and new healthcare facilities are deployed based on what architects and physicians have learned over the past nine months.

“Health care clients are already shifting their focus and asking for smaller footprints and more space flexibility along with additional isolated, negative air pressure rooms,” said Architect and EYP principal Miranda Morgan, while speaking at Bisnow‘s ‘The Future of DFW Healthcare’ webinar. “The smaller footprints are just more efficient and lean. We are still providing everything that is needed, and we are still doing big huge patient towers. But instead of big luxury, patient rooms, clients are asking us to be closer to code and to get what you need in that space and provide the patient with a good experience, but don’t go overboard.”

A large focus of future design will be on keeping healthy and sick patients separate rather than feeding everyone through the same access points and maneuvering the same hallways. Luxurious common areas have lost some favor as health care systems shift toward making sure more rooms are available to isolate emergency care and hospital inpatients while also better managing various points of access to segregate healthy and sick populations on-site.

“We are examining the way patients flow through the facilities,” said Dwain Thiele, UT Southwestern Medical Centersenior associate dean. “Some of the most challenging are imaging facilities or places that previously did not have a large amount of space, hallways or waiting rooms. It is something we will be looking at in the future.”

“What we have seen through the pandemic from a needs standpoint is more access points for people to be seen and to have access whether through telehealth or smaller, faster clinics where people can get in and out,” Transwestern National Managing Director of Healthcare John Huff said. “I guess we realize we don’t all want to sit in a huge long waiting room for an hour.”

In the future, waiting rooms very well could be a thing of the past, with that square footage allocated to more isolated treatment rooms, health care experts said.

“Other trends here to stay include the ongoing push for more outpatient care centers and ambulatory facilities that can take care of non-life-threatening illnesses while hospitals are hit with pandemics,” Huff said.

“Technology also will play a significant role in reshaping the future of health care, with telemedicine, or remote health care visits, allowing hospitals to keep healthier patients away from pandemic-stricken areas,” Methodist Health System Chief Operating Officer Pamela Stoyanoffsaid. “I would say prior to COVID, we probably saw about 1% of visits in the outpatient setting with telehealth. In April and May, when we saw the first surge, we were probably up to 80% to 90% of our visits. When some of the restrictions lifted, telehealth usage dropped back down to 15%, but it’s expected to have a place in the future of health care services. It is now a massive part of what we do, and it is here to stay.”

 

Source: Bisnow

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Medical Office Building Developers See Opportunities And Expect Project Growth In 2021

Although medical office buildings (MOBs) are once again showing their strength as an investment and ownership product during the COVID-19 pandemic, some professionals involved in the sector have expressed concern that there could be a slowdown in the development of such facilities in the next couple of years.

Although such a concern could indeed prove to be true, professionals with some of the MOB sector’s largest and best-known development firms, as well as full-service healthcare real estate HRE) firms that provide development services, recently expressed that they are remaining as busy as ever, and should be for at least the next year or longer.

HREI™ Editorial Advisory Board members say the number of requests for proposals (RFPs) and the level of development activity during the COVID-19 pandemic have come as a pleasant surprise, and they say they expect 2021 to be another strong year.

 

Source: HREI

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Medical Offices Remain Attractive Amid Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has been a boon for industrial real estate as increased online shopping drives up demand for logistics space, but the medical office sector has also fared well in 2020, and experts expect continued strength in that area during and after the pandemic.

While banks are hesitant to lend on properties in the retail and office sectors, financing remains available for medical office properties, experts say. And investors also continue to eye such properties, thinking that demand for services there will pick up once a vaccine is found and becomes widely available.

Here, Law360 looks at three reasons medical office properties remain attractive amid the pandemic:

Banks Are Still Interested in Lending

In the weeks after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, lending all but stopped for commercial real estate. While capital is still tough to come by for retail and office assets, lenders are now providing financing for the medical office sector.

“Lenders are willing to lend on medical office,” said George Scopetta, chief investment officer at medical office owner and services provider ShareMD. “If you come to market with retail buildings, the answer is going to be no. A medical office building, especially if it’s a stabilized building, that’s an asset class that [parties] want to be in.”

Danielle Gonzalez, a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig LLP, said she has closed more than $800 million in loans on medical office buildings since the pandemic began, including an $89 million loan in late September from Starwood Mortgage Capital for eight properties owned by ShareMD.

She said medical offices, along with multifamily properties, have fared markedly better than other asset classes amid the pandemic. Federal stimulus assistance this summer helped many tenants at multifamily properties continue to pay their rents.

“I see a wide variety of asset classes. Not just medical office. … We have seen the least impact on medical office buildings and multifamily,” Gonzalez said. “It was a small blip on the radar compared to other sectors.”

 

Occupancy Has Remained High

Another reason banks have been willing to lend on medical office properties is due to high occupancy levels there, and tenants have remained in those properties for a variety of reasons.

For one, many medical office tenants were unaffected by shutdown orders earlier in the year. David Tabibian, a partner at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP, said occupancy rates for the sector have hovered around 90% to 92% during the pandemic.

“Rent collections have been very strong — above 90%. That’s exactly what you want as an investor in an unstable market,” Tabibian said. “They are essential services, and tenants are able to still access their space and are still paying their rent. Historically, [medical office properties] have done well in downturns.”

That has meant landlords have had stronger rent rolls to show to lenders, a domino effect that inspires more confidence.

But another reason occupancy has remained high is that leases at such properties tend to be longer, which means fewer leases have come up for renewal during the pandemic than leases in other sectors.

“Landlords want longer lease terms. That’s why you see higher occupancy levels,” Tabibian said. “There are various types of equipment. … It’s more custom, more expensive, and as a result of that, tenants tend to sign longer leases at medical offices.”

 

More Consumer Demand Is Expected Once a Vaccine Arrives

While the medical office sector has taken a hit during the pandemic when it comes to consumer traffic in and out of facilities, experts expect demand to pick back up once consumers feel safe going in for procedures. That may not be the case for retail and office properties.

“The big distinction is the impact on medical office buildings was very much temporary, whereas the impact that we’re seeing on retail and office is much more permanent in nature,” Gonzalez said. “Once this is over, people are still going to have to go back to their dentist’s office for a root canal or their doctor for a comprehensive medical exam.”

And with real estate investors looking for places to park their capital and shying away from retail and office, medical offices will remain a solid option, experts say.

“Medical office really attracts the long-term, serious investors. There is tons of investment by [real estate investment trusts] and funds and institutional buyers,” Gonzalez said. “These are players that do thorough due diligence and are really looking for strong assets to hold for the long term.”

Expect more investment in the sector in coming months, particularly in the first and second quarters of 2021, said Tabibian, who noted there is lots of cash on the sidelines that could flow into such properties in 2021.

That investor optimism is being fueled by a sense that there will be a rush back to the properties once a vaccine is widely available.

“Telehealth … has its limitations and does not work with every specialty. At some point, doctors need to see their patients and can’t always do that virtually,” Tabibian said. “Many people have not undergone elective procedures during the pandemic. There’s a huge amount of demand for elective procedures … that’s coming as soon as there’s a vaccine.”

 

Source:  Law360

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Co-Sharing Medical Spaces Gain In Popularity During The Pandemic

The co-working concept is evolving, and has now spread to outpatient medical practices, with some companies offering this model for tenants. At least one of them plans to expand nationwide.

MedCoShare, a healthcare shared workspace provider based in Philadelphia, offers a flexible alternative to traditional medical office leasing. The company allows medical practitioners to rent space according to their own schedules based on membership agreements, without requiring long-term lease commitments.

“We see [the pandemic] creating more of a need than what we anticipated from certain parties,” says Anthony Khan, co-founder and chief financial officer at MedCoShare. “Some of the hospitals have been cutting back hours for their physicians and healthcare practitioners, so there are more who are looking for other sources of income and practice outside of the hospital system. So, it’s created more of a demand than what we’ve seen before the pandemic.”

For example, nurse practitioner Marybell Rodriguez, who specializes in medical grade skincare such as Boton, has signed up for space with MedCoShare.

“It provides me security. I have a month-to-month flex pass,” she says. “I don’t have any long-term contracts or leases or anything, and it helps me build my clientele with the comfort of knowing that if the pandemic flares up and I have to shut down, I won’t have to pay for leasing without even generating revenue. So, starting off, just to build my clientele, it works perfectly for me.”

There are only a handful of co-sharing space providers in the healthcare sector, with a concentration in states including New York, Arizona, Maryland and Pennsylvania. But Ronak Vyas, a commercial real estate broker and co-founder of ARA Group LLC, an investment holding company with more than 25 rental units in two states, says the trend should “start opening up in other cities.” Corinna Bowser, MD, owner of Suburban Allergy Consultants who subleases her space through HealCo, a platform similar to Airbnb but for medical space, says the trend is becoming more prominent because it helps medical practitioners cut down on operating costs while building up a steady clientele, which is especially beneficial in today’s pandemic environment.

Office tenants reconsidering their space needs also means more vacant spaces might become available in commercial buildings going forward, according to Vyas. This could open up opportunities to partner with landlords to expand these short-term alternatives to traditional medical office space leasing, he notes.

“With leases you generally have to do personal guarantees and deposits,” says Vyas. “[MedCoShare] don’t do any of that… There’s really no commitment from the practitioner side.”

While medical practitioners are expected to bring their own specialized equipment to the co-sharing spaces, according to Vyas, MedCoShare does provide basic equipment, including AED, BP cuff, scales, spirometer, otoscopes and ophthalmoscopes. The provider currently operates in the Fishtown neighborhood in Philadelphia, with plans to open two more locations next year.

 

Source:  NREI

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FIP Commercial’s Roy Faith Reps ShareMD In Purchase Of Three-Building Medical Office Campus In Miami

ShareMD, a healthcare real estate and physician practice solution company with corporate offices in Alpharetta, Georgia, has closed escrow on a three-building, 177,358-square-foot medical office campus situated on ten acres in Miami.

ShareMD was represented by FIP Commercial President/Broker Roy Faith. The seller was a private ownership entity.

The purchase marks ShareMD’s second purchase of a healthcare portfolio in South Florida, following its purchase in November 2019 of a two building, 104,000-square-foot portfolio in Miami. Earlier, in February of this year, ShareMD purchased a 20-story, 498,000 square foot medical/professional tower in Jacksonville. ShareMD has acquired a dozen healthcare and medical/professional properties in the past two years totaling 750,000 square feet in Florida alone, separate from its 170,000-square-foot California healthcare portfolio. ShareMD is funded by private equity firm Martis Capital.

“We’re excited to continue ShareMD’s growth in the healthcare facility sector with this acquisition,” said ShareMD’s Chairman and CEO, John Bardis. Bardis, the former Assistant Secretary of the US Department of Health & Human Services as well as the founder and former head of MedAssets, continued, “ShareMD provides a range of healthcare space and technology solutions, and this addition to our portfolio provides for additional capabilities in the South Florida marketplace.”

 

“We were attracted to this opportunity to further expand our portfolio in South Florida,” said ShareMD founder and Chief Investment Officer, George Scopetta. “And, our team’s private equity backing and our track record of nearly a million square feet of properties purchased over the past two years provided the seller with confidence that we could close quickly, and with certainty.”

 

“This completion of this deal shows the strength of the medical sector,” added Faith. “Even during a pandemic, we managed to successfully close in a timely and efficient manner. Both the Buyer and Seller understood the current climate and managed to close before the expected closing date, which really is a credit to all involved. The healthcare sector continues to be a very sought-after type of asset class especially given where we are today. We have been seeing a lot of interest in MOBs –  not just recently, but for a number of years.”

FIP Commercial’s parent company, The Faith Group, recently developed developed a 105,000-square-foot medical office building. Aventura Medical Tower is a Class A medical condo building and some purchase and lease opportunities remain. Aventura’s first medical condo project is located in the Aventura Hospital District at 2801 NE 213th Street in Aventura, Florida. The Group  also owns seven additional medical office buildings in South Florida, including Venture Center I and II, International City Building I and II, Medical and Executive Center of Aventura, Olympic Professional Offices, Parcel Square Offices.

 

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Florida Precision Oncology To Open 15,000-SF Cancer Care Services Facility From New Location At Recently Completed Aventura Medical Tower

Medical Building South Florida

Aventura Medical Tower will now be the new home for Florida Precision Oncology (FPO), a division of GenesisCare (21st Century Oncology).

The cancer care services provider has signed a 10-year lease to occupy approximately 15,000 square feet of space at the recently completed medical tower, located at 2801 NE 213 Street in Aventura.

GenesisCare has more than 440 centers including 14 centers in the UK, 21 in Spain, 36 in Australia and 300 in the U.S. The company also offers cardiology and sleep services at more than 80 locations across Australia. Every year, the team sees more than 400,000 people globally.

FIP Commercial President/Broker Roy Faith and VP of Leasing Julian Huzenman represented the landlord in the lease deal. Jay Whelchel of Whelchel Partners represented 21st Century Oncology.

Roy Faith
Roy Faith

“We are extremely proud to bring in a tenant of this magnitude and to have them join a host of other signature tenants and condo owners that already call Aventura Medical Tower home,” commented Faith. “Our vision was to bring the best of the medical community together under one roof and our vision is coming to fruition.”

The Faith Group’s in-house construction team and architect will be handling the interior build out to the highest of standards and will be delivering a turnkey space for the tenant.

Aventura Medical Tower is a Class A medical condo building and some purchase and lease opportunities remain. Please contact FIP Commercial for more information at 305.438.7740 or contact Roy Faith at Royfaith@fipcommercial.com or Julian Huzenman at Julian@fipcommercial.com.

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14 Big Factors Driving CRE Trends This Year And Beyond

The Covid-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented challenge for the real estate industry.

Commercial real estate professionals have had to navigate new obstacles like virtual showings, finding buyers during an economic downturn and perhaps most significantly, the shift away from centralized offices toward full-time remote work.

The current climate and circumstances will continue to impact real estate trends in the months and years to come, and if you’re in the industry, it’s important to be prepared for what’s ahead. To help, Forbes asked 14 members of Forbes Real Estate Council for their insights.

Below the members identified the biggest factors driving commercial real estate trends this year and beyond.

1. Utility Management For Remote Work

One factor is the ability of some companies to effectively and responsibly manage critical business initiatives while telecommuting. Companies are evaluating the health, safety and necessity of their employees working remotely versus maintaining the continuity of a central office location which may have redundant electrical power, data connectivity and other security measures necessary to maintain sales and operations. – Josh Gopan, Simone Development Companies

2. The Need For Office Space In The Home

While everyone has always needed a place to live, people’s homes now have added value. With many people shifting their workplaces from offices to their homes, their dwelling also has increased in importance. Conversely, this has had a detrimental effect on office space across the country. – Matt Picheny, MJP Property Group

3. Smart Amenities

The adoption of technology will drive smart amenities from the “nice-to-have” column to the “need-to-have” column as restrictions are put in place by local, regional and state governments. Adoption was already trending up pre-Covid-19, but should continue to see a strong increase over the next 12 to 24 months. – Marshall Friday, ADT Security Services

4. Newly Available Subleases

Large, established institutions, like Twitter, Facebook, etc. have put work from home requirements in place that are minimizing their physical space requirements. Combined with businesses negatively affected by Covid-19, there is a large volume of subleases hitting the market. Younger companies that are doing well are looking for flexible space and terms, so subleasing might be the top CRE trend. – Matt Weirich, Realync

5. Less Demand For Commercial Office Space

The outlook of office space is uncertain, but possibly very dark. Businesses had to adjust quickly to a virtual workforce. Many of those businesses will find that they can operate just as well without the overhead costs associated with owning or leasing a physical office. – Chris Bounds, reHacking / Bounds Realty Group by eXp Realty

6. Uncertainty Around Retail Business Operations

One of the key factors driving commercial real estate trends since Covid-19 is the uncertainty surrounding which type of businesses will be able to operate during the pandemic and how that drives the values of those assets. Businesses in strip malls, like nail salons and hair salons, have previously been immune from fluctuations in the economy, but are now at the peril of intermittent shutdowns. – Todd Sulzinger, Blue Elm Investments

7. Property Maintenance As A Priority

Covid-19 has pushed property maintenance to the forefront. Consumers are more concerned about disinfecting than ever, and well-maintained locations—including everything from sanitization to spotless floors and regular, visible cleaning to fresh landscaping—instill confidence. Facilities maintenance is an area companies will need to increase investment in as it becomes integral to brand experience. – Marc Shiffman, SMS Assist

8. High Demand For Essential Businesses

In the net lease world, investors are focusing on quality and stability, both for guarantor and real estate fundamentals. We’re seeing very high demand and capital being reallocated to essential businesses like grocery stores, dollar stores, auto parts and service centers, pharmacies, medical companies and quality guarantors in fast food. Stable cash flow with quality tenants paying rent wins in a high-risk market. – Kyle McCollum, Trinity Real Estate Investment Services

9. Short-Term Market Performance

Covid-19 prompted many investors to spend more time tracking short-term market performance. From an investment perspective, our strategy and analysis begins by evaluating which sectors experienced stability in the last 20 weeks. Multifamily, self-storage, healthcare, NNN retail and office performers are well-documented, however, we must consider how each asset will also perform in the long run. – Keith Lampi, Inland Private Capital Corporation

10. Increased Importance Of Rental Property Amenities

With many people sheltering in place, office properties are relatively empty and time spent at home has never been higher. This makes multifamily amenities increasingly important. The trend of renters seeking well-appointed properties is not new, but in the wake of Covid-19, the value of on-site dining options, co-working lounges, fitness centers and other amenities has never been greater. – Salvador Garcia, MAS Development Group

11. The Internet’s Impact On Land Value

Technology and digital connectivity have disrupted many industries and real estate is not immune. We have been forced to realize that such advances may alter our approach to land use and the built environment. There will be increasing discussion about the effect of the internet on the value of land generally, although we are in the very early stages. – Eliot Bencuya, Streitwise

12. Changes In How Office Space Will Be Used

When demand returns for office, the largest part of the workforce will be hybrid workers that come to the workplace two to three days a week. This is down from four to five days per week meaning a 20 to 30% decrease in demand for office, retail, hospitality, etc. This will dramatically shift how these assets are used and valued. We will see the productization of the office from a couple of products to several. – Jacob Bates, CommonGrounds Workplace

13. Industry Adaptability And Resilience

This trend is truly remarkable as it has shown how resilient the industry is. The market has made huge progress in creating work-from-home environments with management companies investment firms and doing the best they can through the use of many tech support programs. It’s been remarkable to see this trend take life while showing the industry stays strong (thanks to interest rates being low). – Heidi Burkhart, Dane Real Estate

14. Capital Reallocation

As we’ve seen in past downturns, there is a massive reallocation of capital for investment to commercial sectors deemed safer with cash flows that are perceived to be more durable. Look for pricing to tighten and competition to increase in multifamily, industrial, self-storage and medical sectors while loosening in retail, office and hospitality. – Max Comess, Hodges Ward Elliott, LLC.

 

Source: Forbes

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Robot Used To Kill Coronavirus In Hospitals Now Being Tested In Residential Buildings

The Xenex LightStrike Xenon-Ray Robot is the world’s only proven Coronavirus-Killing UV light disinfection device, according to a just-released peer-review study published by the UK’s Cambridge University Press.

And now, LightStrike, which is used in hundreds of hospitals, is, for the first-time, being debuted and deployed in a Miami residential building.

According to the study, LightStrike is 99.99% effective at deactivating SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

No other UV ray device has been proven to kill the coronavirus.

LightStrike is not used on people or pets. It disinfects the air and an array of surfaces.

Miami is one of the most coronavirus-impacted cities in the U.S. It is also one of the world’s most-competitive and high-value real estate markets, where developers are vying to offer anti-COVID features.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has created demand for a new disease-conscious lifestyle,” says Paramount Miami Worldcenter’s CEO-Developer Daniel Kodsi. “Buyers and residents consider disinfecting technologies essential and we are the first to offer these features; providing security and peace of mind to our residents.”

LightStrike Technology

LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots are used in 650 healthcare facilities, worldwide. They include the Mayo Clinic, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Veterans Affairs hospitals from coast-to-coast.

“There are a lot of UV products on the market that make a lot of claims,” says Xenex (Zen-X) CEO Morris Miller. “LightStrike is the only robot that has been proven to kill SARS-CoV-2 and there are over 40-plus independent studies proving its efficacy.”

He emphasizes, “As an example, the robot was tested against SARS-CoV-2 at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute, which is one of only 10 Bio Safety Level 4 Labs in North America. Scientists there concluded that LightStrike achieved a 99.99% level of disinfection during a two-minute treatment.”

LightStrike’s intense, pulsating bursts of xenon UV light are not only proven to destroy the virus that causes COVID-19; but its robotic disinfection system also deactivates C.diff, Ebola, MRSA, SARS and other viruses and pathogens, according to an array of studies published by major universities and hospitals.

Paramount Miami Worldcenter is the only residential tower currently to be chosen to evaluate the efficacy, efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the LightStrike Robot, according to Xenex.

According to Kodsi, Phase One of the Paramount Miami Worldcenter LightStrike Robot evaluation focuses on the building’s public areas and a select number of its luxury high-rise homes.

He explains, “The primary public areas include the 5,700 SQF spa & fitness center and the building’s game room, kids’ playroom, indoor basketball and racquetball courts, elevators and restrooms.”

Phase Two disinfection will include high-rise homes.

About Xenex LightStrike

▪ Made-in-the-USA: San Antonio, Texas.

▪ Each LightStrike robot costs $125,000, which equates to a cost of approximately $100 per day over a 37-month period.

▪ Hospitals report disinfecting as many as 60-rooms per day with a single robot, which equates to a cost of about $3 per room.

▪ Robot emits bursts of brilliant, broad spectrum UV light that quickly destroys microscopic viruses and bacteria.

▪ Different pathogens are susceptible to UV light at different wavelengths.

▪ With broad spectrum UV light, LightStrike robots quickly deactivate viruses and bacteria by destroying their molecular structures and cell walls.

▪ Average-sized bedroom requires two, two-minute disinfection cycles (one on each side of bed) with additional two-minute treatment in the bathroom.

▪ LightStrike’s rays destroy micro-organisms on high-touch surfaces without causing damage to equipment, furniture, clothing and other items.

▪ Safely operated for more than 23 million cycles.

▪ No chemical residues or toxic fumes.

▪ LightStrike currently in-use at more than 650 healthcare facilities, food processing plants, and government buildings.

 

Source:  EIN Presswire

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There IS A Doctor In The House: Amenities Get Medical In The COVID-19 Era

Architectural Digest reports a new trend in amenities for multifamily residential buildings: on-site healthcare facilities or services that allow residents to receive medical testing or treatment at home. In this peri-pandemic era when home confinement is the prescription for avoiding infection and transmission of COVID-19, the appeal of having medical care come to you is undeniable.

As AD indicates, these new amenities go beyond the gyms, yoga studios, spas, and other ”wellness”-focused spaces found in many communities. While semi-private exercise spaces will likely be preferable to fully public ones for quite a long time to come, even those ‘safer’ options still require frequent disinfection, social distancing, and strict scheduling, and therefore may be less likely to provide the serenity—and therefore some of the health benefits—that they did prior to the pandemic.

For the next level of residential wellness offerings, developers are teaming up with providers of telemedicine, COVID testing, and concierge medical services to give their buildings and communities access to medical care from the comfort and isolation of one’s apartment.

The nexus for this boom in health-focused amenities, according to AD, is South Florida—which should surprise no one. The state has long been a mecca for older residents savoring their retirement years, making the population more likely to access healthcare in general. Additionally, the area is home to a sizable international community that may find concierge-style medical services easier to navigate than the traditional (and Byzantine) American healthcare system. It’s also a popular destination for medical tourism—and who wouldn’t want their elective surgery consultation (or even the procedure itself) conducted in the comfort and privacy of a residence?

On-demand medical concierge services were already available at the Ritz-Carlton Residences Miami Beach before COVID-19, reports AD, but their use has increased dramatically since the pandemic hit.

“It seemed like an added-value luxury perk and now it’s something they find essential,” a representative tells the outlet, referring to the development’s unit owners.

Jim Carr, co-founder of real estate development firm CC Homes, recognized the benefits of telemedicine even before the pandemic.

“If you have a routine illness or a checkup,” he tells AD, “you don’t want to tie up your day going to the doctor’s office.”

To that end, CC Homes now offers complimentary telemedicine to buyers of its units through a partnership with Baptist Health South Florida, a nonprofit clinical-care network with 10 hospitals and more than 100 outpatient centers throughout the region. Homeowners receive a one-year membership to Baptist Health Care on Demand, AD indicates, which includes unlimited virtual urgent-care visits along with an in-home TytoCare digital diagnostic device that transmits heart rate and temperature and allows doctors to examine patients’ skin, ears, and throat remotely.

Danny Elfenbein, director of digital and consumer solutions at Baptist Health, tells AD, “Developers have always looked at wellness—yoga classes, gyms, rooftop gardening—but actual healthcare hasn’t really been part of the mix before.”

Citing the TytoCare device as a “tipping point” toward a more formidable in-home healthcare trend, Elfenbein indicates that he is already hearing from other real estate companies interested in Baptist Health’s offerings for residents.

And this fall, as reported by Forbes, developer Royal Palm Companies will break ground on Legacy Hotel and Residences, a 50-story tower in downtown Miami with a full-service medical facility on the ground floor. Residents will have priority access to the $60 million, 100,000-square-foot Center for Health + Performance, which will include an onsite lab and pharmacy, elective surgical suites, diagnostic imaging capabilities, and a dedicated number of medically equipped hotel rooms for post-surgical patients, according to the outlet.

“When we set out to do this project we were contemplating… what’s not been done in hospitality,” says Royal Palm Companies’ chief executive officer Dan Kodsi.

After the coronavirus pandemic hit, he says the developers decided to apply the same design principles from the medical center to the hotel and residences, upgrading the ventilation systems and planning to include more voice-activated, touchless technology and UV light sanitation.

“Having a medical center has made people more enthusiastic,” he says of the post-pandemic response. “People take comfort in buying in a place that has these kinds of amenities. Health is the new wealth, we say.” 

The development is averaging four to five contracts a week, according to Forbes.

Not everyone agrees that this trend of in-home access to medical services is 100% beneficial. James Plumb, a doctor and co-director of the Jefferson Center for Urban Health, part of Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, indicates to WHYY that residents, as well as landlords and developers, should think carefully before diving head first into boutique or ad hoc health services. He cautions that these services don’t necessarily involve consulting a patient’s primary care physician or reviewing their medical history, which can lead to unintended negative health consequences.

“You try to maintain folks in a contained system so decisions can be made with background information on patients,” he tells the network. 

Plumb also points out the redundancy of telemedicine as a housing amenity or perk, indicating that most major U.S. health systems, including Jefferson, have robust telehealth offerings already. A service like Health+ might not be filling any gaps, in that case; moreover, “[It] might be potentially harmful for continuity of care,” Plumb concludes.

Like with most trends, the popularity of healthcare amenities in residential buildings might only last until the next big thing comes along. Or until the development and worldwide administration of an effective coronavirus vaccine.

 

Source:  The Cooperator

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Medical Office Building Sales Fell Nearly 50 Percent In Q2, But The Sector’s Outlook Is Strong

The volume of MOB investment sales transactions in the second quarter of 2020 totaled around $2.2 billion, a 43 percent decrease compared to a year ago. In the first quarter of 2020, MOB investment sales volume reached $3.7 billion, according to data firm Real Capital Analytics (RCA).

The CoStar Group, another provider of commercial real estate data, pegs MOB investment sales volume at around $2.1 billion in the second quarter, a drop of 54 percent from $4.7 billion from a year ago.

“The volume of sales has absolutely hit pause, it hit the brakes really hard in the second quarter. You saw a significant drop in sales volume,” says Keith Pierce, research manager for Southeastern region with real estate services firm Transwestern. “The price per square foot did not really shift that much for those sales that did close. But by and large, just everybody froze in late March and largely stayed frozen until sometime in June.”

Average cap rates on transactions involving MOB assets remained at 6.6 percent at the end of the second quarter, flat with the figure from a year ago and the first quarter of 2020, according to RCA. CoStar pegs average MOB cap rates at 6.7 percent, also registering no change from the previous quarter.

“I anticipate seeing somewhat of a flattening,” says Russell Brenner, president of the medical office and life sciences division with real estate investment firm CA. “Once the market truly opens up again and lenders, which have been very selective in where they lend, come back into the market in droves and in a more significant way, I think you may well see cap rates continue to fall. But for probably the next two three quarters, I think it will be a largely flattening of cap rates.”

Earlier during the pandemic, many Americans largely postponed elective procedures, which put a dent on revenues for medical office tenants. But in states where those facilities are reopening, industry sources are reporting pent-up demand.

“We saw very few delinquencies, perhaps a handful of rent deferral requests, but by and large, the healthcare medical office tenancy as a whole stood up very well,” says Brenner. “Certainly now that elective procedures are back on in most parts of the country, MOBs are poised to bounce back and will continue to be a stable and reliable asset class.”

“Medical practices are running at 90 to 95 percent of pre-pandemic levels,” says Steve Hall, senior managing director for healthcare advisory services at Transwestern, who expects this level of demand to continue through the end of the year.

“Many of the company’s tenants are back to 80 percent of pre-pandemic levels of procedures and services,” says Jon Boley, senior vice president of acquisitions and development for HSA PrimeCare, a firm that develops, leases and manages medical facilities.

“The reason these businesses are not back to 100 percent is because they are having to do above-standard cleaning in order to disinfect surgery centers throughout the day,” Hall notes. “A factor that will shore up MOB assets in the future is the dearth of new construction happening right now. During a pandemic, a lot of people aren’t pulling the trigger on a brand new construction. The lack of construction going on right now I think is really going to keep the market strong since there is not going to be oversupply.”

 

Source: HREI

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