MINNEAPOLIS—In the Greater Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN, one developer has become quite well-known for focusing almost all of its attention on one real estate product type: healthcare.

The firm is the Davis Group, launched by Mark Davis in 1986, which makes him something of a pioneer in the Twin Cities.

“At that point, I don't think anyone was focusing on the healthcare real estate market,” says Mr. Davis, who had previously worked as a real estate manager for a defunct Minnesota HMO.

“(The Twin Cities) is a very sophisticated and mature healthcare market, more so than most other markets,” he notes. “For us, it's a niche that developed over many years, and today, we're 98 percent focused on healthcare.”

After operating the firm as a sole proprietor for a couple of decades, Mr. Davis brought in two principal to add to the firm's capabilities in 2009. Joining the firm were Michael Sharpe, formerly the VP of real estate for Minneapolis-based Allina Health System; and Jill Rasmussen, a former senior director at Cushman & Wakefield and one of the Twin Cities' better-known HRE specialists. It also recently added property management services.

In the growing Twin Cities' healthcare market, the Davis Group has carved out a niche as one of the most-active HRE firms. In 2013 it completed more than 50 HRE transactions. Those leases, sales and developments totaled more than $250 million in value.

While the Davis Group has been quite active in all forms of HRE, it has perhaps been most impressive when it comes to development. Since 2009, the firm has topped the list of Twin Cities HRE developers by completing 10 medical office buildings (MOBs), seven of which it owns; it provides leasing services for the three it does not.

The company is also currently “actively pursuing” a few medical projects within the five-state region, according to Davis. “We have clients in the Dakotas and Wisconsin; we haven't done anything in Iowa, yet but are actively pursuing those other markets, with a couple of things on the drawing board.”

In taking a closer look at some of the company's more-recent projects, the firm helped Robbinsdale, MN-based North Memorial Health Care expand its service-area beyond its north-suburban home and establish a strong presence in the affluent western suburbs of Minneapolis. Along a busy highway in Minnetonka, Davis is developing a 63,000 square foot, $17.7 million MOB for North Memorial that is scheduled to open in September 2014. North Memorial has a lease for 35,000 square feet for an Urgency Center, with an option on another 7,400 square feet for an ambulatory surgery center (ASC). 

Another recently completed project several miles away in Minnetonka is a $7.5 million, 29,400 square foot, two-story clinic for sole tenant Minnesota Eye Consultants PA.

Moving forward, the Davis Group foresees plenty of opportunities.

“We started 2014 with the signing of a large 240,000 square foot lease transaction,” Davis says. “And we have a number of new development deals in process and leasing activity in the market continues to pick up. We believe that 2014 will be our best year to date.”