Real Estate Forum's November/December 2019 issue says Conn has been integral in growing Meridian into one of the leading national healthcare developers for creative ambulatory healthcare real estate solutions. At the firm, he focuses on developing much-needed outpatient clinics, redeveloping real estate assets into healthcare and fostering relationships with healthcare providers. He is now responsible for all aspects of development and construction, including entitlements, underwriting, capitalizing, asset management and disposition. Conn has been recognized with numerous awards due to his tenure in the sector.

"In our office, Mike goes by many titles: coach, master developer, healthcare expert, community liaison and more. As executive vice president at Meridian, Mike wholeheartedly embodies our tagline, Buildings for Life," said John Pollock, Meridian CEO. "He has a true passion for healthcare real estate and has one goal in mind–enhancing the patient experience and providing greater access to care at a more affordable cost. Mike has an uncanny ability to look at a development opportunity, whether a ground-up or adaptive reuse, and build the project in his mind before the architect even puts pen to paper."

Founded in 1999, 2019 marks Meridian's 20th anniversary. Meridian has built numerous healthcare and office projects, including more than 15 campuses and hundreds of buildings. Some of its highlighted transactions in 2019 include the purchase of a six-story 100,000-square-foot office building in San Mateo, CA. In addition, the healthcare developer just broke ground on a 25,000-square-foot imaging and infusion clinic for a major provider and has several other ground-up opportunities in the pipeline for 2020.

"In addition to celebrating our 20th anniversary this year, Meridian had a very active year where we have repositioned the portfolio by buying and selling assets in the mid-hundred-million-dollar range," Conn tells GlobeSt.com. "We are excited for 2020 and beyond. Our balance sheet is very healthy, and we are actively pursuing opportunities that allow us to continue our mission of creating quality physical spaces and increased access to care. We have very creative and flexible deal structures for our trusted clients that allow us to create true partnerships in an open and transparent manner."

With healthcare needs rising due to the aging population, Meridian will continue to stay busy. The number of people who are aged 65 and older is expected to increase by 35% in the next decade, according to a recent report by Cushman & Wakefield.