HTA Grabs Multi-State MOB Portfolio for $150M

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center campus, Phoenix

Healthcare Trust of America Inc. has closed on its previously announced medical office building portfolio acquisition, buying 11 medical offices for $150 million.

Already the largest owner and operator of medical office buildings in the U.S., Healthcare Trust added 592,000 square feet of space in Arizona and Southern California. The portfolio consists of the 168,000-square-foot McAuley Medical Center, located within the St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center campus in downtown Phoenix and the others are primarily located on Dignity Health (Rated A3) campuses in Phoenix and Southern California.

HTA’s portfolio in Phoenix has grown to 1.3 million square feet while its Southern California portfolio is now over 700,000 square feet. The firm will manage the Phoenix portfolio with its existing property management and leasing platform. With the additional scale, HTA will open a new office in Southern California to manage and lease those assets, generating significant synergies from property management and leasing.

In the past 10 years, the company has invested approximately $4.5 billion in medical office buildings and other healthcare assets comprising $18.4 million square feet of gross leasable area.

The portfolio was 83 percent leased at the time of the sale.

According to a company release, HTA’s investments are targeted in 15 to 20 key markets that the firm believes has superior healthcare demographics that support strong, long-term demand for medical office space. 

“We have achieved, and continue to achieve, critical mass within these key markets by expanding our presence through accretive acquisitions, and utilizing our in-house operating expertise through our regionally located property management and leasing platform,” the release read.