Ryan Cos. Opens Twin Cities-Area MOB

Rendering of Highland Bridge Medical Office. Image courtesy of Ryan Cos.

Ryan Cos. has completed the development of Highland Bridge Medical Office, a 60,000-square-foot health-care facility in St. Paul, Minn. The property is part of the 122-acre Highland Bridge mixed-use development which was the former home of Ford Motor Co.’s Twin Cities assembly plant.

The project broke ground in December 2022, with Ryan A+E Inc. as architect of record, providing architectural, civil engineering, landscape architectural and interior design.

The two-story medical office building, aiming for LEED Silver certification, is 85 percent occupied and Transwestern oversees leasing, CommercialEdge data shows. There are currently 8,000 square feet of remaining space for future tenants. The clinics offer a variety of medical services, including primary care, physical therapy, dermatology, skin cancer diagnosis and surgery, and imaging. The tenant roster includes M Health Fairview, Dermatology Consultants, LifeStance Health, Highland Foot and Ankle Clinic and RAYUS Radiology.

The property is located at 2270 Ford Parkway, 8.6 miles from downtown St. Paul and 6 miles from downtown Minneapolis. Other medical facilities in the surrounding area include the Minneapolis VA Health Care System and Regions Hospital, 7.4 miles away. The medical facility will have access to other features of the mixed-use community, including parks, retail shops and nearby amenities.

As of March, The Minneapolis-St. Paul market had a supply pipeline of 20 medical office buildings in various stages of development, set to add approximately 1.8 million square feet to the existing inventory, CommercialEdge data shows.

Optimistic views for the health-care sector

At the end of 2022, the medical office market had an occupancy level of 92.3 percent and consistent rent growth, outperforming the traditional office sector, where the average occupancy was 11.4 percent lower, according to a JLL report.

Despite strong fundamentals given the nature of the asset type, the report shows that there might be some concern due to rising interest rates and development costs. Nevertheless, the health-care sector still proves resilient in the face of economic struggles.