Developers chasing investor dollars for healthy medical office space - New Mexico Business Weekly:

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The health care real estats development and project management company is buildinga $40 million investment fund to acquire and develoo medical clinical space around the country. Tom Gibson, a partner in the says the firm expects to be able to offer returns for investors becauswe medical space has held its valu e relatively well during the past coupleof “Even in the down it’s been pretty stable,” he says. “We’re just tryingf to take advantageof what’s out there.
” The plan is to put significangt cash into deals — payinhg for 40 percent to 50 percentg of a development or acquisition out of That up-front equity, along with plans for long-term will take much of the risk out of Gibson says. The Nashville-basedd firm has 15 yeara of experience in medicalreal estate, having developefd and managed more than 100 medical officesa and clinics in 30 states. So far, the firm has raisesd about $6 million toward the goal.
It has been in talkws with large institutional investors and individuals to reachu the target by the end of but it’s already moving forward with the money in “We have a prettyg good pipeline of development that we’re workintg on that we’d like to role into the says Bond Oman, a partner in the The new funds should allowe Oman-Gibson to double its business in the next year or two, Oman The mix will be about 40 percen t new development to 60 percent acquisitions of existinb properties, Oman says. Most of those will be single-tenant such as doctors’ offices and ancillaryh services likeelectronic imaging, with prices betweejn $3 million and $10 million.
The goal in acquiring properties will be to gain value inthe buildings, whether that be landinh discounted prices from sellers who need the cash or re-negotiatingv leases for longer terms, adding stabilit to a property’s income. The firm has aboutr six development properties already in the pipeline but not off the grouncd that the fund might helpmove forward. “We’red looking at returns and taking a lot of the risk out of Oman says. Many in the real estate industryh are trying to capitalize on the down inall segments, says J.T. Martin, head of the healthj care real-estate division at Nashville-basedx Southeast Ventures.
However, in medica l real estate, there still is a large gap between the price expectations of buyersand sellers, he “Either the banks haven’t squeezedf them hard enough for them to have to sell, or they thini they can hold out,” Martin says. But by looking nationally, Oman-Gibson will have a bette chance of findinggood deals, he says.