Stonebridge Plans $400M Medical Facility

Rick Buckley, Hunt Barnett and Chris Houge in the Century City office of Insignia/ESG estimated the cost of Westside Medical Park at build-out will approach $400 million and it's occupied. Buckley, Barnett and Houge represented both Century City-based Stonebridge and the seller of the property, the Argonaut Group of San Antonio. Financing for the land sale was arranged through George Smith Partners of Century City.

The Insignia brokers say the project site is the largest undeveloped block of land in West Los Angeles. The project will be the largest development in West Los Angeles in more than 10 years, according to Buckley, who says negotiations are under way with several anchor tenants to take the entire 400,000-sf first phase.

Westside Medical Park will be a class A, state-of-the-art patient care medical park built-out in three phases. It will consist of four six-story buildings, with underground parking and possibly a hospital. Stonebridge hopes to begin building in summer 2004 with completion in early 2006.

Michael R. Lombardi, president of Stonebridge Holdings, says the new medical park is a response to a pending market need linked to California SB1953. The bill, adopted after the 1994 Northridge earthquake seriously damaged a number of area hospitals, will force many older hospitals to close doors if they are unable to meet the stringent earthquake safety upgrades outlined in the measure. Combined with the affluent, aging Westside population, Lombardi says, the bill creates a demand for hospital beds and outpatient services that exceeds what is available.

The medical park will include a six-acre Japanese-style garden, valet parking and a host of other services as part of what will be both a patient-care center and a medical research campus, according to Stonebridge. The project will be designed through a collaboration of architect Gordon N. Park, executive vice president of Stonebridge Holdings, and AC Martin Partners, headquartered in Downtown Los Angeles.

Stonebridge Holdings Inc., headquartered in Century City, specializes in medical office buildings and facilities. Its developments include surgery and imaging centers, labs, medical offices and other projects throughout Southern California.