LOS ANGELES—During times of economic uncertainty—or, for thatmatter, prosperity—diversifying your real estate investments isalways a wise move. Often discussions revolve around the typicalasset classes—retail, industrial, multifamily and commercial—buthave you looked at medical office buildings? Healthcare real estateor "med real estate" refers to offices, buildings and campusesleased to medical providers or healthcare organizations, which areoften owned and operated by unrelated third parties.

“Med real estate” transactions run the gamut from acquisitionsof hospitals (including acute medical/surgical facilities andspecialty hospitals such as rehab or assisted living) todevelopment/financing/construction/leasing of MOBs or specialtymedical facilities such as diagnostic imaging facilities, dialysisor plastic surgery facilities. In each case, the physician, healthsystem or hospital can preserve cash and capital resources fortheir core business—providing medical services—and delegateresponsibility for owning and managing real estate to those whoknow it best: real estate investor/developers.

Healthcare is one of the fast growing segments of our economy,so it's not surprising that healthcare related real estatetransactions are also on a fast track.