HEALTHCARE INFLUENCERS: Individual Industry Professionals
Here are four healthcare real estate experts who, in various ways, have made their mark on the business.
Here are four healthcare real estate experts who, in various ways, have made their marks on the business.
At Cushman & Wakefield, Lorie Damon leads a healthcare advisory practice that helps clients adapt real estate portfolios to new care delivery modalities and address tighter operating pressures and reimbursement constraints. This team, which has grown to more than 300 professionals nationally, provides real estate services to many of the nation’s most prominent healthcare systems including BJC Healthcare, HCA and LifePoint.
At the same time, the St. Louis-based managing director has positioned C&W as a leading real estate partner with investor firms, expanding management agreements with national healthcare REITs. She’s also has recruited key healthcare real estate professionals in major markets to increase the firepower of C&W’s national advisory group team. All the while, Damon has been closing her share of major deals, including advising a health system client in a strategic $450-million portfolio buy-back, allowing the client to gain control of critical properties and mitigate significant rent increases.
She also counsels clients to treat their portfolios as investments-—a change of view for many clients, which tend to consider themselves real estate occupiers. Damon’s background in building management education and in banking has given her a unique perspective that is invaluable in her work as it allows her to see things from all angles and find opportunities that others miss. Damon, who serves on the ULI Healthcare and Life Sciences Council, was also the recipient of the BOMA International Achievement Award in 2016.
President, principal and CEO of Minneapolis-based Davis, Mark A. Davis is considered to be one of the top experts in healthcare real estate in the Upper Midwest. Over the past 30 years, Davis has leased, developed or acquired seven million square feet of medical space.
To close these deals and achieve the objective of his clients, Davis has often turned to creative tactics. He has, for example, assembled several off-market parcels to create a large enough site in a client’s target market. He once worked on a deal for ten plus years until the project was viable. He’s expanded a development twice after construction was already underway and he’s facilitated the acquisition of off-market assets.
In the past three years Davis has led the development of eight medical buildings ranging in size from 10,000 square feet to 150,000 square feet for $95 million in development costs. During this same period, he has closed over 20 investment sales transactions totaling more than $400 million.
To meet client demand, Davis has opened offices in five states. The firm provides property management to 53 medical office buildings totaling 2.6 million square feet for such clients as Physicians Realty Trust, HealthEast, Noran Neurological Clinic and North Memorial. Davis has also worked with nonprofits such as Be the Match to develop and execute real estate strategies. The firm has won numerous awards through the years, including the 2015 NAIOP Broker Team of the Year.
When Ron Krauskopf helped co-found Investors Bank’s Healthcare Lending unit in 2012, the firm had zero healthcare mortgages in its portfolio. By 2017, the healthcare unit had been recognized as the top performing commercial & industrial lending team in Investors Bank. Today, the firm’s healthcare portfolio is valued at $750 million and, in recent months, the healthcare lending team has originated and completed more than $400 million in new loans.
As SVP and team leader of the Newark-based firm’s healthcare lending unit, Krauskopf manages the unit’s portfolio and develops and maintains significant client relationships. He also leads a team of four senior lenders that been named to Investors Bank’s Circle of Excellence for each of the past three years.
The healthcare lending unit has attracted a wide range of transactions, including tax-exempt lending, to Investors Bank. Among its clients are large physician-owned organizations like Summit Medical Group, as well as medical centers and hospitals that are looking to expand their secondary outpatient clinics and other facilities. In addition, the team has successfully provided a growing percentage of its financing to not-for-profit healthcare organizations.
A 25-year industry veteran, Mary Beth Kuzmanovich heads up national business development for Colliers International and relationship management with healthcare industry clients. The Charlotte, NC-based national director of healthcare services works in collaboration with Scott Nelson, president of occupier services and Karen Whitt, president of investor services, to advance Colliers’ national property management, brokerage, project management, capital markets and valuation services to the healthcare sector.
Prior to her current position, Kuzmanovich was vice president in the facilities management group of Carolinas HealthCare Systems. There, she led the real estate services division, including leasing, property management, development and acquisitions and managed the maintenance, architecture, parking, security and line services departments. She also developed extensive expertise in financial management, regulator compliance, corporate safety and emergency management. In 2014, Kuzmanovich led her own consulting business, MBA Healthcare Consulting. One of MBA’s key clients was Colliers International, which ultimately led to Kuzmanovich joining Colliers in 2015.
A fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, Kuzmanovich is active in several healthcare real estate professional organizations and has served in leadership roles with BOMA and the ULI Health and Life Sciences Council. She has served on the boards of the United Way, North Mecklenburg Child Development Association, Davidson Land Planning Commission, Davidson Planning Board and the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce.