Healthcare Trust buys St. Joseph Health medical buildings for $150 million
For the year, HTA has now invested more than $600 million in medical office buildings totaling 2 million square feet.
The St. Joseph Health Mission Hospital campus in Mission Viejo, California. (Google)
Healthcare Trust of America, a dedicated owner and operator of U.S. medical office buildings, has closed on about $187 million of building investments so far in the third quarter -- including a $150 million acquisition of four buildings on the St. Joseph Health Mission Hospital campus in Orange County, California, part of the Providence Healthcare Network.
For the year, HTA has now invested more than $600 million in medical office buildings totaling 2 million square feet, almost 60 percent of which are located on hospital campuses.
The $150 million buys HTA four multi-tenant medical office buildings totaling over 262,000 square feet in Mission Viejo, which the group has described as belonging to a market with a "high barrier to entry." No ground leases were a part of the transaction.
HTA described Orange County as having the "highest residential real estate values in the U.S.," home to a temperate climate, a diverse array of jobs, and a strong university medical system that makes it an attractive location for skilled medical professionals.
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The medical office buildings are leased by various medical practices affiliated with the St. Joseph Health System, which features an investment grade A1 rating by Moody's and an AA- rating by Fitch.
With this transaction, HTA has invested approximately $200 million in and around Los Angeles, representing over 465 thousand square feet. The company said in a statement that it now has the critical mass to make this area one of its key markets.
St. Joseph Health, now part of Providence Health, based in Redmond, Washington, is the third largest health system in the United States, with 50 hospitals and a strong presence up and down the West Coast.
Just last year, HTA invested a total of $190 million in the Boston, Charleston, Indianapolis and Raleigh markets, buying up a range of healthcare facilities including a biomedical research facility located on the joint campus of Boston Medical Center and Boston University Medical Center; a 40,000-square foot medical office building leased to the Medical University of South Carolina; and a 126,000-square-foot medical office building in Indianapolis that it leased to Community Health.
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