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How Medical Offices Fuse With Mixed-Use Projects

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With the need for medical services on the upswing and an increased overall preoccupation for wellness, communities across the nation have been looking for solutions to bring health-care services more within their reach.

For a growing number of mixed-use developments, medical offices are becoming the ultimate amenity, making convenient care available in settings that feature modern technology and are minimizing the unpleasant clinical experience.

HSA PrimeCare Executive Vice President Robert Titzer points out that while the era of academic medical centers is not over, demand for smaller medical offices located in sites with good visibility and ample parking is expected to rise. What’s more, given that medical offices are considered safer investments in times of economic slowdown than retail and hospitality assets, adding a health-care component to a larger development ensures its stability on the long run.

Commercial Property Executive: What type of mixed-use developments is incorporating medical office spaces and do you think luxury projects are benefiting more from this addition?

Robert Titzer: Medical offices can be incorporated into a wide variety of mixed-use developments. Everyone needs health-care services, at all income levels, and essentially wherever people live and work. So, whether the project is deemed a luxury product or otherwise, there is often a health-care application that can make sense in the overall development.

Commercial Property Executive: What criteria does your company apply when choosing a location for a new MOB project that will be part of a mixed-use?

Robert Titzer: Our company’s decision-making closely follows that of the designated health-care provider. That is, we attempt to align the provider’s ambulatory care strategy with location and site selection on the macro level. On the micro level, we look for sites that have good visibility, intuitive wayfinding, ample parking and/or transit access.

Commercial Property Executive: Accessibility is a great advantage of health-care projects. Are there any disadvantages that mixed-use property managers could address better?

Robert Titzer: The challenge that many owners find is dealing with the mix and volume of patient and customer flow in and out of mixed-use sites. Medical facilities operate best when their patients do not have to compete for parking or access with other component users of the development, because oftentimes the patient population is not as physically mobile as a shopper, for instance. They need drop-off areas and protected parking close to their destinations.

Commercial Property Executive: Tell us about how you succeeded in attracting Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin to Drexel Town Square and how do health-care providers usually see the concept of a MOB as part of a mixed-use development.

Drexel Town Square. (IMAGE CREDIT: HSA Commercial Real Estate)

Robert Titzer: Drexel Town Square is an exciting new “front door” for Oak Creek, Wis., and having a health-care component dovetailed perfectly with the development’s mix of community, retail and residential uses. Its location made perfect sense for Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin. As part of a larger 85-acre mixed-use project that includes a new city hall, public library, shopping, restaurants, service-oriented businesses, hotel and apartments, a MOB fits into this modern, master-planned development. HSA PrimeCare worked hard to ensure the development addressed the access issues mentioned above. We also programmed flexibility into the design by approaching it as a mini-campus that could adapt and grow with the health-care system’s needs over time.

Commercial Property Executive: What are your expectations from the medical office sector going forward?

Robert Titzer: We see continued strong demand for ambulatory care facilities in a wide variety of locations, as health-care providers strive to reach their patients more effectively by providing easier access, and to serve their patients more economically in ambulatory care settings versus in-hospital care. Consolidation of sites of care is also a driver in the establishment of newer, more modern and efficient buildings that can drive operating efficiencies for health-care systems.

Commercial Property Executive: What should health-care property managers focus on more at this late point in the economic cycle?

Robert Titzer: At HSA PrimeCare, we always strive to stay ahead of the game. That means being prepared for what your building needs to be five years from now, not simply what it is today. That also means keeping the property in A-plus condition and anticipating tenant needs as uses evolve with the change in health-care delivery. This could encompass improvements such as common-area renovations, or services and amenities like enhanced on-site dining and snack options.

Commercial Property Executive: Today, we’re seeing a lot of focus on wellness rather than just getting treatment. Is the era of mega hospitals and medical campuses coming to an end?

Robert Titzer: We see the large academic medical centers taking on increased importance in our society as places where groundbreaking research takes place and extremely complicated care is delivered to the most challenged patients. These centers will continue to grow in importance as it is an exciting time for medicine. Medical professionals now have vast troves of medical data at their disposal that can be used to tackle these mega-challenges. Academic medical centers are uniquely positioned to take on this task, which makes their existence all the more important in today’s world.

 

Source: Commercial Property Executive

How Healthcare Adds Value To Mixed-Use Developments

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When it comes to location identification for development, you have to think creatively. In a highly competitive market like Milwaukee, mixed-use projects offer a great opportunity to showcase creativity, take advantage of complementary uses and drive tremendous value for clients and investors.

The success of a mixed-use project lies in location. A high-profile location will help attract businesses, which then helps build traffic. Ideally, you want to think outside the box to generate repeat visits with businesses that will help sustain that traffic. An innovative mix of retail, restaurant, hospitality, office and even healthcare can greatly enhance a development.

Mixed-use retail developments create new opportunities for healthcare projects. Health systems and physician practices are choosing to prioritize locations they may not have previously considered. There’s been a significant expansion of and increased focus on the outpatient ambulatory environment. The trend of developing specialty outpatient facilities, ambulatory surgery centers and micro-hospitals continues to gain momentum and allows for expansion to remain competitive while maintaining efficiency.

An outpatient facility brings traffic. Finding a high-visibility location where customers are already engaging increases the convenience factor. Built-in traffic drivers like restaurants and retail help with trip assurance. For example, after wrapping up a clinic appointment, you can stop for food, or pick up something at a retail store. Zeroing in on what the consumer wants and then making it easy for them to achieve that is the key to success. 

Case study: ProHealth Care 

ProHealth Care, a community-based healthcare system in Waukesha County in southeastern Wisconsin, approached Irgens for a new project in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield. ProHealth Care offers a full range of services from primary care and specialty care, hospital care, rehabilitation care, home and hospice care to fitness and wellness services. The company had a previously under-performing site, and after learning more about the goals for this new development, Irgens presented them with an alternate opportunity at The Corridor.

The Corridor is a 66-acre, horizontal mixed-use project that includes retail, restaurants, hospitality, healthcare, office and fitness and wellness space. The location offers great visibility from I-94 in a heavily trafficked area in Brookfield. 

Irgens brought this project to ProHealth to help reposition its services from a lower profile and less-valuable location to a highly sought-after retail corridor in a richly developed demographic market. The strategically important location made sense, and ProHealth Care took advantage of the opportunity. The Corridor offered a high-profile site with multiple access points. A number of growing and first-to-market businesses chose to locate there, including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Portillo’s and Life Time Fitness.

Irgens moved quickly on the 50,000-square-foot building for ProHealth Medical Group at The Corridor. Immediately following lease signing, Irgens completed the building design and expedited the entitlement process to bring the project to occupancy within 11 months. Securing the site and getting ProHealth to market quickly gave the company a competitive advantage.

Consumers expect to find healthcare delivered in a more convenient location. If it’s not convenient, consumers will not engage because they make decisions based on ease. Health systems are beginning to understand this. 

Successful healthcare development through strategic and trusted relationships will serve companies well. Irgens has developed several projects with ProHealth Care over the years. Trust was an important factor in having ProHealth Care consider the opportunity at The Corridor and immediately recognize its value.

Successful real estate developments are close to where people live, work and play. Proximity to mass transit and other amenities like grocery and retail stores are key factors to that success. Healthcare plays into this as well, becoming another key element for a quality mixed-use development, positioning an organization in a new area to create a new avenue for care delivery in a convenient, consumer-oriented setting.

 

Source:  RE Business