Top MOB Deals of First Half 2014

The largest medical office building (MOB) investors, it goes without saying, prefer to make larger acquisitions, which typically means portfolios instead of single buildings.

But in the current MOB 2014 marketplace, portfolios are not as readily available as they were just a year ago. And that, it seems, is evident when perusing the top MOB transactions in the first half of this year.

According to Jones Lang LaSalle's healthcare capital markets group, portfolios accounted for about 22 percent of all MOB sales that the firm tracked in the first half, which includes only sales of MOBs with 20,000 square feet an up. The number was more significant in 2013, when portfolios accounted for about 36 percent of the MOB sales that JLL tracked.

While the top two MOB transactions of 2014 were indeed portfolios, with some larger single-story buildings also cracking the top 10.

1. $200 million, ProMed Portfolio. Scottsdale, AZ-based Healthcare Trust of America acquired six MOBs from New York-based ProMed Properties at a price per square foot of $450. The MOBs are located in Boston, Baltimore and Miami.
2. $193.6 million, WRIT Portfolio. The sale marks Chicago-based Harrison Street's closing on the final five MOBs of an overall, 20-building portfolio that the equity firm acquired for just more than $500 million. The MOBs are in Greater Washington, DC. Cassidy Turley was the broker.
3. $146.7 million, 673 First Ave., New York. NYU Hospitals acquired the 426,000 square foot building, where it is a major tenant, from SL Green Realty Corp. for $344 PSF.
4. $87.7 million, Mercy Wellness Center, Edmond, OK. Healthcare Realty Trust, purchased the 219,000 square foot facility, which includes medical offices and fitness centers, for $400 PSF.
5. $53.6 million, Crane Creek Medical Center, Melbourne, FL Health Care REIT purchased the building from a joint venture of Harrison Street and Hiffman Shaffer for $500 PSF. JLL brokered the deal.
6. $48 million, Palmed Office Building, Hialeah, FL. The 164,000 square foot building was acquired from a limited liability company by Tenet Healthcare Corp. for $293 PSF.
7. $39.9 million, Peachtree Dunwoody Medical Center, Atlanta. Physicians Realty Trust paid $305 PSF. The seller was North American Property Corp.; the broker was Newmark Grubb Knight Frank.
8. $35 million, 1435 North Randall Road, Elgin, IL. Harrison Street paid $376 PSF for the building sold by a Wisconsin developer, The Boldt Co.
9. $32.7 million, Texas Center for Athletes, San Antonio. Seniors Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) acquired the building from Sports SA Holdings for $254 PSF. Transwestern brokered the deal.
10. $32 million, 10740 Medical Office Building, Dallas. HCP Inc. (NYSE: HCP) acquired the building from IRA Realty Capital for $348 PSF. CBRE Group Inc. was the broker.

John B. Mugford is the Editor of Healthcare Real Estate Insights™, the nation's first and only publication totally dedicated to covering news and trends in healthcare real estate development, financing and investment. For more information, please visit www.HREInsights.com.