PALMDALE, CA-Meridian Property Co. has sold a third building in the 34,000-square-foot Sierra Pelona Medical Center to Joshua Medical Group, a local family practice in Palmdale, CA. At 8,400-square-feet, the freestanding building is the largest in the five-building property.

"This a great medical center with synergistic owners and represents a unique opportunity for the medical community that needs office space to be just one block from Palmdale Regional Medical Center," says John Pollock, Meridian Property Co.'s COO. The company previously sold two other buildings on the property to Social Vocational Services Inc., which provides adult vocational services, and Care1ST Primary and Urgent Care Center. John Erickson and Brent Weirick, Colliers International SVPs, represented Meridian Property Co. in the deal and handle all leasing and sale activity for Sierra Pelona Medical Center.

Originally known as Challenger Park, the property was built in 2008, but sat vacant until Meridian Property Co. purchased it in November 2011. The company specializes in medical property development, and saw this as a strong repositioning opportunity because of its close proximity to the Palmdale Regional Medical Center, which provides inpatients and outpatient surgery, a 24-hour emergency service and has a heart attack receiving center. In contrast, the original owner hoped to attract retail and office users to the development.

The property has two remaining buildings, 6,250-square-feet and 6,700-square-feet, and a vacant build-to-suit lot entitled for a 49,000-square-foot medical office building. The buildings are available for sale or lease. 

The healthcare real estate industry is undergoing a major change this year, both because of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and because of a changing healthcare sector and an aging population, according to JLL managing director Jason Clark. For this reason, many healthcare companies are purchasing additional space and augmenting leases to accommodate anticipated growth.

But, it isn't only healthcare companies that are expanding real estate. Investors also see this as a good time to look for healthcare real estate opportunities, like Markwood Enterprises, which recently purchased a medical property in Pasadena fully leased by Pacific Clinics. Other investors have purchased buildings to reposition them into medical facilities, similar to what Meridian Property Co. has done here with the Sierra Pelona Medical Center.