PHILADELPHIA-Medical and educational real estate assets are quickly losing their niche status. Next week, on Jan. 27th, attendees at RealShare Philadelphia conference will get a perspective on how important those types of projects are to the Metro area.

"They've become much more interesting to the general commercial real estate community," explains Allison Wilson-Maher, vice president of east region healthcare at Duke Realty, who will moderate the universities and healthcare panel at noon. Joining her on the panel are Andrew Bush, director of real estate and special products at Cooper University Hospital; John Gattuso, senior vice president and regional director at Liberty Property Trust; JoAnn Magnatta, senior vice president of facilities, design and construction at Main Line Health; Christopher Montello, chief operating officer at ProMed Properties; Anne Papageorge, vice president for facilities and real estate services at the University of Pennsylvania; and Richard Taylor, managing director, healthcare solutions at Jones Lang LaSalle.

Panelists will discuss big projects areound the area and what will be new to come. Some of the larger projects underway in the area include Virtua Health building a facility in Vorhees, NJ; a new Capital Health system hospital in Hopewell Township, NJ; and a new Albert Einstein-Montgomery Health Hospital going up in East Norriton, PA.