GlobeSt panelists say they are staying busy despite a challenging environment

By John B. Mugford

The GlobeSt Healthcare conference developer panel discussion included (from left to right): Sean Miller of Anchor Health Properties, Jaime Northam of Ryan Cos. US Inc., Sharon Harper of The Plaza Companies, Jake Dinnen of based PMB and Malcolm Sina of Sina Companies. Not pictured: Moderator Murray W. Wolf of HREI™. (HREI™ photo)

The current healthcare real estate (HRE) development market is a bit of an enigma.

The number of medical office building (MOB) projects under construction remained somewhat steady from 2022 and into 2023. Yet the total square footage started nationwide during a 12-month period from the third quarter (Q3) of 2022 to Q3 2023, fell 41.6 percent. In Q3 2022, 23.3 million square feet of space was started, while Q3 2023 saw that drop to 13.8 million square feet.

Murray W. Wolf, the publisher and founding editor of Healthcare Real Estate Insights (HREI), presented these stats compiled by Arnold, Md.-based Revista, an HRE research firm, during a panel discussion focused on development at the ALM/GlobeSt. Healthcare conference on Dec. 12 at the Andaz Scottsdale Resort. Mr. Wolf served as the moderator of the session titled, “Through the Lens of Developers: Reimaging Healthcare CRE.”

Although HRE project starts were down in late 2023 versus 2022, Mr. Wolf pointed out that the number of projects under construction nationwide as of the end of Q3,