Post-Acquisition, Hermann Expansion Continues
The hospital is nearing completion on a $650 million renovation and expansion to drive the latest technology and procedures, and provide for the growing healthcare needs in the Houston region.
HOUSTON—LaSalle Investment Management‘s recent acquisition of Memorial Hermann Medical Plaza-Texas Medical Center at $405 million was the largest price ever paid in the U.S. for that type of building. While this indicates that healthcare properties continue to be in high demand, this isn’t just any healthcare property. Its location at the largest medical complex is significant.
“6400 Fannin has been on everyone’s radar with its irreplaceable real estate and an iconic part of the TMC skyline,” Brandy Bellow Spinks, CBRE first vice president, tells GlobeSt.com. “Very few properties trade hands in the Texas Medical Center and at over 500,000 square feet, it’s a monumental property. While there is little vacancy in the building, the change of ownership will have an impact on the market and continue to push rental rates upward.”
Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center was the first hospital to open in the Texas Medical Center in 1925. The original facility was only 200,000 square feet. Today, Memorial Hermann’s flagship hospital encompasses more than 2.5 million square feet.
It is the primary teaching hospital for the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center provides care in heart, neuroscience, orthopedics, women’s health, general surgery and organ transplantation. As one of only two certified Level I trauma centers in the greater Houston area, the hospital provides 24/7 emergency and trauma care. And, Memorial Hermann Life Flight provides emergency rescue within a 150-mile radius.
The acquisition isn’t the only large endeavor going on at Memorial Hermann. The hospital embarked on a $650 million renovation and expansion in fall 2014. The project will position the hospital to continue its role in driving the latest technology and procedures to provide for the growing healthcare needs in the region. With this expansion slated for 2019 completion, the campus will grow to 3.84 million square feet.
“For nearly a century, our staff and affiliated physicians have set new standards of care in Texas and the nation through advances in medicine and surgery,” said Craig Cordola, regional president for Memorial Hermann. “This project will add to our legacy by supporting our ongoing drive to be a leader in the industry while delivering the highest quality and safest healthcare to our community for many decades to come.”
The project’s highlights include a new patient care tower and a second building with infrastructure capabilities to support future growth and renovation of existing pavilions on the campus. Additional improvements will include a 15-floor patient care tower to house the Texas Trauma Institute and Memorial Hermann Life Flight, including the John S. Dunn Helistop and dispatch center, 160 additional beds (plus 71 replacement beds), 24 operating rooms (19 replacement and five new rooms), 16 additional emergency room bays, 750 new parking spaces and 335-seat café. In addition, seven shelled floors and six shelled operating rooms will be constructed to accommodate future growth with the potential of adding 264 beds. Moreover, a 20 bed-expansion is underway for the John S. Dunn Burn Center. This is the only comprehensive burn center in Houston verified by the American Burn Association.
The Memorial Hermann system has more than 20,000 employees advancing healthcare in Southeast Texas and the Greater Houston community. Its 13 hospitals include four hospitals in the Texas Medical Center: an acute care hospital which houses the Texas Trauma Institute and a Level I trauma center, a children’s hospital, a rehabilitation hospital, and an orthopedic and spine hospital; eight suburban hospitals; and a second rehabilitation hospital in Katy, TX.