Central Florida Demonstrates Healthcare Real Estate Boom

Skanska USA has signed a $62.7 million contract to build a 230,000-square-foot research and education facility on the Johns Hopkins Medicine All Children’s Hospital campus in Saint Petersburg, FL.

ORLANDO—Skanska USA has signed a $62.7 million contract to build a 230,000-square-foot research and education facility on the Johns Hopkins Medicine All Children’s Hospital campus in Saint Petersburg, FL. This is the latest example of the rising activity in Central Florida’s healthcare real estate market. “The healthcare industry continues to play a more significant part in the overall economy,” Cushman & Wakefield director Anne Spencer tells GlobeSt.com. “It now directly employs nearly 15 million people and has caused the pool of available medical office space to tighten.” The 230,000-square-foot healthcare real estate facility will include 30,000 square feet of research and laboratory spaces and another 30,000 square feet of educational space, which will feature a 400-seat auditorium. The healthcare real estate project will have 50,000 square feet of offices and administrative spaces, a 20,000-square-foot collaboration space and a Biorepository, which is a repository of biological materials. According to a recent CushWake report, hospital growth has continued to rise in Central Florida. The area is now seeing both on- and off-campus medical office construction with about 100,000 square feet of new space in the pipeline. That number just increased with the new John Hopkins project. More than 200 professionals will occupy the building that will house the hospital’s Maternal, Fetal & Neonatal Institute, Heart Institute, Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute and the Institute for Brain Protection Sciences, which will employ clinicians, research teams, faculty and staff. Designed by architecture firm HDR , the healthcare real estate project construction began in March 2016 and is slated for completion in 2018. CushWake notes Central Florida’s inventory of for sale institutional medical office buildings has been limited. Most of the recorded medical office building sales have been smaller, single-tenant buildings or medical condos acquired by owner-users. “Hospitals and health systems have digested the realities of the Affordable Care Act and are starting to implement growth plans accordingly and this will generate additional leasing and development volume,” Hunter Beebe , managing principal at Healthcare Real Estate Capital, tells GlobeSt.com. “The assets continue to evolve based on technological and systematic changes in the industry.” Where are the hidden commercial real estate opportunities in the Southeast? Find out my recent column .