AUSTIN-Location and quality tenants were the defining factors behind Norvin Healthcare Properties' acquisition of the 60,000-square-foot, three-story Central Market Rehabilitation Hospital. The New York buyer paid $32.9 million to Prevarian Hospital Partners of Dallas for the asset.

CTRH is located at 700 W. 45th St. not far from Seton Medical Center Austin. The rehab hospital is 100% leased by a joint venture of Kindred Healthcare Inc. of Louisville, KY and Austin-based Seton Healthcare Network. Other tenants include MD Anderson Cancer Center, Texas Children's Hospital, Memorial Hermann Health System, St. Luke's Episcopal Health System and the University of Texas Health System.

“We were very attracted to this acquisition opportunity because of the rock-solid reputations of the joint venture tenants. Seton is the leading not-for-profit, integrated health system in Central Texas and Kindred is the nation's largest post-acute care provider,” says Norman K. Livingston, Norvin Healthcare Properties president and founder in a press release. “We also were attracted to Austin because it's one of the fastest-growing large cities in the country, and demand for rehabilitation services tends to grow with population.”

The CTRH transaction includes the building, which opened in April 2012, as well as the underlying land. The 3.68-acre site is large enough to accommodate future growth, and the hospital was designed to seamlessly connect on all three floors to a possible future expansion The facility provides highly specialized rehabilitation services for patients with complex physical and cognitive conditions, including brain injury, lower extremity amputation, spinal cord injury and stroke. The hospital also features a therapy pool.

“We have been trying to gain a foothold in the Austin market for some time,” adds Todd Muhlfelder, Norvin's director of acquisitions in the press release. “So we are especially pleased we were able to acquire a facility in an exceptional, desirable location in the central city where there are few investment or new development opportunities, and high barriers to entry.”