Traditionally, health care providers have clustered around hospitals, but now, they also want satellite locations for more-direct access to patients. “The terms ‘neighborhood centers’ and ‘community centers’ explain why health care providers want to be in our centers,” said Rappaport CEO Gary Rappaport. “They want to locate in their patients’ neighborhood and in the center of the community.” Medical tenants first appeared in marketplaces more than two decades ago, and rising health care spending has created a big tail wind for further expansion.
Health care spending in the U.S. exceeds a whopping $4.4 trillion per year, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services forecasts that health expenditures will grow at an annual rate of 5.4% through 2031. COVID also spurred a greater focus on the health-and-wellness sector, from cryotherapy to therapeutic massage. “You have this perfect storm of factors that is going to keep demand very robust for perpetuity, which is obviously a good thing for expansion of health care and health care real estate,” said Colliers Health care Services senior vice president John Wadsworth.
