National healthcare real estate development and project management firm Oman-Gibson Associates (OGA) recently announced the formation of a new $40 million investment fund specifically targeted to develop and acquire new medical office buildings and clinical space throughout the country.

 

Nashville-based OGA has developed healthcare properties in 30 states and manages 97 facilities representing more than four million square feet of medical space in conjunction with the firm's sister company, Holladay Property Services.

 

According to Bond Oman, CEO of Oman-Gibson, the impetus for the fund launch was two-fold. "First, we have a number of projects in our pipeline that we'd like to roll into the fund," he said. Oman added the second reason is to leverage the company's large network of contacts to take advantage of new opportunities in the marketplace. He added the timing is right and market conditions are excellent due to the recent tightening of credit markets.

 

Unlike publicly traded healthcare REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), the OGA fund is private. "Our goal is not to become a REIT," Oman noted. "Our niche has been the ancillary or outpatient medical care centers. Most of ours are going to be single tenant type properties at about $2-$10 million dollars."

 

Potential properties for acquisition or development include medical office buildings and outpatient centers such as ambulatory care, cancer, diagnostic imaging, cardiovascular, dialysis, urgent care and rehabilitation.

 

When announcing the fund launch, Oman noted healthcare is a logical area for those seeking investment opportunities. "We're seeing values today in a relatively stable sector. Creating this fund is the sensible step in taking advantage of these current market conditions and yielding superior returns for investors."

 

One of the reasons Oman believes his company's healthcare specialty fund is different from broader real estate investment opportunities is because of OGA's longstanding development and management expertise. "We already have the infrastructure in place," he said of their ability to rapidly move forward.

 

OGA began the fundraising process on June 1. "We're looking at putting debt somewhere between 40-to-50 percent," Oman said, adding that the belief is that OGA can leverage the $40 million investment up to $80-$90 million. "We feel we can give people double digit returns in sound investments where there aren't many options right now. We've been doing this 10-15 years, and we have an established track record."

 

Oman added the expectation is that the fund could close by the end of the year based on current interest and activity from investors. The typical investment range for the fund is $3 million and up.