Dive Brief:
- A group of healthcare providers and networks, along with developer FoxRock Properties, has announced that they are planning a new Class-A medical office building for downtown Quincy, Massachusetts, which is part of a $1.6 billion downtown redevelopment surge that started in 2011, according to the Boston Business Journal.
- The medical office, which South Shore Health and Brigham Health will occupy, will total up to 200,000 square feet and anchor a mixed-use development that FoxRock has proposed. In addition to the medical building, which will be the biggest downtown commercial/office project so far, the development will also include a 140-room hotel and 110 units of workforce housing, as well as ground-floor restaurants and retail space.
- There has been $400 million in public and private investment in downtown Quincy to date. Other revitalization projects that are either planned or under construction include a 598-apartment building — also from FoxRock — a South Shore medical facility, public plaza and parking garage.
Dive Insight:
Hospitals and other healthcare providers have started getting into the mixed-use game, or at least adding nontraditional components to their developments. And while there are construction companies that specialize in the intricacies of medical space construction, others cast a wider net with residential, retail and other more standard portfolios.
One of the most recently announced mixed-use projects with a medical focus is a new Medistar Corp. tower in Houston, according to a press release from Transwestern, which will handle leasing for the property. The 48-story, 1.6-million-square-foot project will be completed in two phases and will be located at Texas Medical Center, the largest life sciences complex in the world.
The first phase will include 476,500 square feet of medical and life science office space above a 1,700-space parking garage. This initial stage will also see the construction of retail and a penthouse-level restaurant and lounge. There are no set plans yet for the second phase, but it is possible that Medistar could either develop more than 400 luxury residential units or build out additional healthcare-related office space.
Medical facilities have also worked their way into sports- and event-centric developments. The $1.5 billion Nassau Hub is a planned, 72-acre district that will use NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, as its centerpiece. The Coliseum hosts major concerts and other events and is home to the Long Island Nets and some New York Islanders games.
In addition to residential, retail, hotel and office space, the Hub will also be home to the 225,000-square-foot Northwell Health Innovation Center and the $180 million, 114,000-square-foot Memorial Sloan Kettering cancer treatment center, which is scheduled to open this year.
