PASADENA, CA-Markwood Enterprises has purchased a 23,776-square-foot office property at 66 Hurlbut Street in Pasadena. The property is 100% leased by Pacific Clinics, a private, non-profit community behavioral healthcare agency, which has occupied the property for 20 years. 

The healthcare sector is expected to expand this year due to the roll out of the Affordable Care Act. When doing his due diligence, David Wright, director of operations for Markwood Enterprises, met with the regional director of Pacific Clinics. “It was his opinion that the Affordable Care Act will be of benefit to his business,” Wright tells GlobeSt.com. “For the medical office space, I think it will be good. There are millions of people who now have health insurance that didn't, and they become healthcare consumers.”

A strong, long-term tenant was one of the key reasons Markwood leaped at the acquisition opportunity. Pacific Clinics has a 10-year lease balance, and according to Wright, this is a good cash-flow property for the remainder of the term. Additionally, the property is located within close proximity to the Huntington Hospital, which Wright believes “bodes well for medical office space” in Pasadena. “I suspect that there will be strong, steady growth there over the next decade.”

NAI Capital SVPs Marie Taylor and Dan Bacani represented Markwood Enterprises in the transaction, while IDB Bank provide the debt financing for the transaction. Markwood purchased the property for $7 million.

The healthcare market isn't the only sector expanding in the Pasadena market. Investors have been plucking prime properties positioned for growth. Most recently, Rising Realty Partners teamed up with Silicon Valley tech expert David Sachs to purchase the Old Pasadena Plaza. The duo plans to redevelop the property into a tech hub, and found Pasadena as a prime location due to its proximity to the California Institute of Technology and the Jet Propulsion Lab.