The projects are to rise simultaneously. A spokeswoman for Healthcare Realty Trust says final contracts have yet to be signed for the 163,000-sf medical office building. But, ground will break this quarter, she tells GlobeSt.com.

Under the agreement, Healthcare Realty Trust will own and operate the medical office building, which will be dedicated to hospital services and physicians' offices. The office building is to deliver in late summer 2004. Baylor is eyeing an October 2004 completion for its first phase, a 310,000-sf hospital with 96 inpatient beds and 32 outpatient beds.

In the past two years, medical operators have taken to following the rooftops, just like the retail sector, to develop mini-campuses in the suburbs. The service area for Baylor Medical Center at Plano is projected to grow by 21% over the next three years or a population increase of more than 60,000.

In the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, Baylor has suburban hospitals in Garland, Irving, Coppell, Grapevine, Waxahachie and the City View section of Fort Worth. The not-for-profit operator has more than 2,500 beds in its network. The portfolio also includes 47 primary care centers and practices, eight rehab clinics, eight senior health centers, 14 affiliated ambulatory surgery centers and the Baylor Research Institute.

The Nashville-based health-care REIT has a 29-state portfolio of nine facility types. It holds contractual arrangements with 62 health-care providers.