Inside View: Chris Jacobson, real estate adviser, CBRE
July 25, 2013 at 11:12PM
Health care real estate adviser for CBRE
Chris Jacobson has been in the commercial real estate industry for two decades and a medical office broker since 2009. The St. Paul native, who's a health care real estate adviser for the Minneapolis office of CBRE, represents health systems, physician groups and independent practices in their real estate transactions. Before joining CBRE, he worked for Bloomington-based NorthMarq's health care advisory group.
"I've always been interested in health care, so it seems really comfortable," Jacobson says.
Jacobson and his business partner are working with more than a dozen health care groups in the Twin Cities and throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Q: How's medical brokerage different from traditional office brokerage?
A: The drivers are completely different. Medical is often driven by retaining staff and patient needs and economics are further down the list. … I'm working with a group that's moving literally down the hallway of their same building, and one of the main drivers is having more areas that are conducive to staff to help them retain staff.
Q: Medical real estate has been relatively recession-proof compared to other sectors, correct?
A: Medical stays at a real even pace; it never really gets fast and furious and it never really slows down. But there are things that affect it. The Affordable Care Act definitely has had an impact on health care real estate and how facilities are viewed by systems.
Q: How is that changing?
A: Systems, physician groups and independent practices are starting to look more horizontally at their real estate than ever before. Health care is broadening its wings and touching a lot of areas of real estate. Data centers are being built specifically for health care providers because of patient privacy requirements. Ambulance facilities have all kinds of unique components including possibly pharmacies. … Long-term care facilities are starting to touch multifamily housing.
Q: Are medical users still pursuing retail sites?
A: Yes. In 2008, less than 10 percent of America's health care delivery mechanism was in retail. Now it's over 14 percent. … Some systems are putting primary care in retail with high visibility, lots of parking and easy access. It's in the neighborhood. It's on a bus line or light-rail transit line. They're going into neighborhoods where primary care hasn't typically been. Brooklyn Center just got one. HealthEast just put one in an old Borders bookstore on University Avenue in St. Paul.
Q: How's that different for retail landlords?
A: Unless the developer or landlord is savvy to medical groups, it takes a lot of education because the expectations for return are very different from traditional retail users. It's going to be a much longer lease. There are typically going to be landlord-provided, tenant-improvement dollars. They're probably going to take up a larger percentage of parking that may not turn over as quickly.
Jocelyn Parker • 612-673-1701 • jocelyn.parker@startribune.com
about the writer
Health care spending rose by 15%, driven by higher prices. Officials say solutions are needed to prevent Minnesotans from being priced out or delaying care they need.
