Developer Takes Hospital for $32M

The 301-bed hospital is located on 13.5 acres, has 457 parking spaces and an adjacent nine-acre plot of vacant land. The sale was financed with a $28.5-million loan by Merrill Lynch Capital, a division of Merrill Lynch Business Financial Services Inc. The sale closed on Dec. 8. "Since the market is changing, we're trying to buy more commercial properties with credit A tenants," Sky Development principal Yizhak Toledano tells GlobeSt.com.

Sky Development plans to develop two 80,000-sf office buildings on the vacant parcel of land. The project, which will be called Park Plaza Executive Center, is being constructed to meet the office space needs of the hospital. It will have 10,000 sf of retail space on the ground floor, including 5,000 sf for a bank. Sky Development is in the process of obtaining site plan approvals for the project and plans to break ground in summer 2007, Toledano says.

Memorial Hospital Pembroke has been a part of the Memorial Healthcare System since 1995. The hospital has signed a long-term lease. "Memorial is a reputable credit tenant with a high rating," Toledano says. "This is crucial when dealing in transactions of this size and scope."

Toledano adds that one of the reasons the acquisition was attractive was that it is located across the street from a new $1.1-billion development project with 910 homes and 270,000 sf of commercial space. "We feel residents will get tired of driving to Fort Lauderdale and other locations and look for areas to work closer to home," Toledano says.