Acute-Care Leader Stamps 86,000-SF, Long-Term Lease

Build-out construction should begin within 120 days at 800 Kirnwood Dr. in DeSoto, a former Charter Behavioral Health Care property sold in a two-building transaction to Precedent by Fort Worth-based Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. The other holding, a 69,000-sf medical building was leased as soon as it closed. LifeCare Hospital of North Texas took the property for 11 years, also with the intention of opening a long-term, acute-care facility.

Barry Hancock, Precedent's executive vice president, tells GlobeSt.com that the deal has been in the talking stage for nearly three months as he lobbied Select Medical to lease all instead of part of the empty facility. Hancock, the deal's sole broker, says there were five other prospects for the 3.8-acre holding. Select Medical's credit-worthy persona put it at the front of the pack.

Build-out plans are still on the drawing boards. The final bed count is undetermined at this stage, but the plan is to beef up the acute-care space already incorporated into the building design. The 86,000-sf structure is nearly equally divided into acute care and psychiatric space. Half of the existing psychiatric space will be converted for acute care, a Select Medical specialty practice. Precedent's new tenant currently operates 64 hospitals and 717 out-patient clinics in the US and Canada.

The property, says Hancock, was particularly appealing to the industry leader because of its proximity to Charlton Methodist Hospital and the void of such facilities in the bedroom community south of Dallas. The nearest acute-care facility is at least seven miles away from DeSoto.