Q&A: ‘More demand than ever,’ Lauth says

NEW HEAD OF FIRM’S HEALTHCARE GROUP SAYS THAT PIPELINE REMAINS ROBUST

By Murray W. Wolf

J. Taggart “Tag” Birge

The recession hasn’t been kind to many mainstream commercial real estate firms, and some have reduced payrolls in response to a sharp decline in development activity.

Indianapolis-based Lauth Property Group LLC has been no exception. Yet, while business might have slowed for Lauth’s office, industrial and retail groups, healthcare remains a bright spot, according to company officials.

From not even being included in Modern Healthcare’s annual survey of top healthcare development companies in 2006, Lauth ranked 13th in 2007 and moved up to eighth in the 2008 rankings, which where released in March. Lauth’s healthcare real estate revenues grew almost 84 percent in 2007, to about $179.5 million, and it increased development during that time by almost 99 percent to about 787,000 square feet, according to the survey.

Healthcare accounted for about 18 percent of Lauth’s overall business in 2007. Although 2008 results are not yet available, that proportion probably increased last year as the healthcare group grew and other sectors declined.

Meanwhile, Lauth is still getting healthcare real estate deals done. At a time when many projects are stalled due to the credit market meltdown, the firm announced in November that had secured financing and begun construction for a $70 million medical office project in Norfolk, Va.

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