Regions Midatlantic | Philadephia
$100M Pennsylvania Hospital Project to Yield 173,000SF of Medical Office Space
Dec 27, 2007
By: Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Cogdell Spencer Inc. has entered into a development agreement with St. Luke's Hospital and Health Network in Bethlehem, Pa., for the construction of the initial phase of the hospital's new Riverside Outpatient Campus about 70 miles outside of Philadelphia. The entire 383,000-square-foot project, which will include medical office space, will cost $100 million to complete.

St. Luke's new Riverside Campus will occupy 55 acres off Route 33 in Bethlehem, approximately five miles northeast of St. Luke's main hospital campus and Lehigh University. The medical office portion of the project consists of two buildings encompassing a total of approximately 173,000 square feet of office space. "This is a growing area that is pulling from the Eastern Pennsylvania community and beyond; Interstate 78 opens access to New Jersey and New York," Devereaux Gregg (pictured), Cogdell Spencer vice president of development, told CPN today. The Charlotte, N.C.-based REIT and a group of physician investors will own the structures, valued at $35 to $40 million, together in a single investment entity. St. Luke's is leasing a large portion of the medical office space for physician-owned practices, and Cogdell Spencer will oversee the leasing of the remaining space.

The remainder of the medical park will feature a cancer center and an outpatient healthcare pavilion to be developed by Cogdell Spencer and owned by St. Luke's. "The community can support the project right now, but it is a growing community that is underserved healthcare wise," Gregg said of demand for the development. The architectural firm of Wilmot/Sanz Inc. has been tapped to design the state-of-the-art medical complex on which ground is scheduled to break within the next seven to 10 days. Cogdell Spencer plans to complete the entire project in the third quarter of 2009.

Cogdell Spencer has been quite active in Pennsylvania over the last several months. In September the REIT completed a $13.6 million, 64,000-square-foot medical office building and ambulatory surgery center at the Health Campus of Lancaster General Hospital in nearby Lancaster. And in June, it wrapped up the $12.6 million development of the 52,800-square-foot Lancaster Rehabilitation Center at the same hospital campus. Demand in the medical office market across the country is on the upswing and is expected to continue to increase due in no small part to the growing healthcare needs of the baby boomer population, according to a mid-year report by Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co. In the Northeast, 1.1 million square feet of medical office space is on target to reach completion this year, compared to 860,000 square feet in 2006.

A fully-integrated, self-managed REIT, Cogdell Spencer invests in specialty office properties for the medical profession, including medical office buildings, ambulatory surgery centers and diagnostic centers. The company's portfolio presently encompasses 59 wholly owned properties, five joint venture endeavors and 57 managed medical office buildings. Company stock opened at $16.26 today.

 
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