PHILADELPHIA-Often thought of as recession-proof, the education and healthcare sectors play a pivotal role in Philadelphia. So it’s no surprise that the ninth-annual RealShare conference, held here yesterday, wrapped up with a discussion about these two property types, with representatives from the University of Pennsylvania and several healthcare providers offering an overview on development here, what they have planned for the future and how it will impact the real estate and business markets in the city at large.

For its part, U. Penn has been ahead of the curve when it comes to city planning. “It had a housing and retail strategy in place for years thanks to consultants,” said Anne Papageorge, vice president for facilities and real estate services at the university. “We hold focus groups to test our ideas. And the end result has really served to benefit the local community through new restaurants and storefronts.”

Building in an urban setting also means that there is a premium on land, observed moderator Allison Wilson-Maher, vice president of east region healthcare at Duke Realty. “So it’s imperative to have a long-range strategy in place,” she said. This focus on extensive planning has not been lost on Main Line Health System, which recently wrapped up several major campus overhauls. “We went to our board and told them we needed another $900 million to refurbish the remainder of our facilities, but they asked us to go back and look at our programs to ensure we’re using our facilities to the best and highest use,” said JoAnn Magnatta, senior vice president of facilities design and construction and Main Line Health System. She added that the company will continue to reach out to the real estate community. In fact, it already brought Trammel Crow on board to handle one of its residential properties.

Despite the industry’s current love affair with healthcare, Binswanger president David Binswanger pointed out that relying solely on medical will be difficult for investors. “The changes that have been going on with healthcare are frightening to doctors,” he said. “Over the next year or two, you’ll see a retrenchment as people grapple with the new healthcare model.”

Also top of mind for attendees was the state of the capital markets. While panelists on this session mulled over the current lending environment, there were some clear-cut criteria that everyone agreed on--namely, the notion that communicating with your lender is, indeed, a good thing. “Fixed-rate financing is definable if you have an asset that is, say, 80% unoccupied,” said Matthew McManus, chairman of Bluestone Real Estate Capital LLC. “You won’t get any.” All of the panelists also agreed that multifamily was the most likely product class to obtain financing. “There is debt available for other product types but at a lower LTV,” commented Jones Lang LaSalle senior vice president Jerry Kranzel, who added that note sales are prevalent but tend to have a short fuse--in other words, five to 15 days to close.