Midtown Medical Center At 1400 Gray St. & 3808 Main St.

[midtown_resident]

i think you just need a new source:)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i stand corrected - give us the scoop!

[Trophy Property]

Is the Walgreens under construction yet?  Or has the old building just been demolished?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It looks like it will get going soon. I have not been over there in a few weeks so I can not say for sure.

[dbigtex56]

Anyone have any (reliable) updates on this property?

First, we had reports of the Main Medical Centers. Then a real estate broker's sign went up, advertising that a full city block was available.

A week or two ago, the Medical Center sign went back up. Is this another Shamrock Tower, or is someone going to actually move dirt this time?

[greystone08(returns)]

this is somewhat good news. i hope they make parking more convienient than they do in the Medical Center. It frustrates me how the Medical Center is layed out, it's so inconvieient with the parking issue. Basically, you'd better have money for parking in times of an emergency or YOU WILL DIE.

[UrbaNerd]

In an emergency, it does not matter. Just ditch your car, and get into the hospital! You can contest any parking tickets/towing costs later with the city.

Besides, isn't this a professional center? I dont think those usually have Emergency Rooms.

[ricco67]

Greystone,

I may be a bit wrong on this, but if you're having an emergency, finding a parking spot would probably be relatively low on the priority list, especially if you suffered a fairly traumatic injury.

Then again, you could just have your buddy push you out of the car onto the parking lot while he finds a place to park (and wipe up the goo from his car).

Ricco

[GovernorAggie]

lol, you said "goo"!

[Globalarb]

New sign up at Austin and Webster says that it's opening late 2007. I can't say I know exactly how long it takes to build something like this...but I imagine two years or so?

Developing those two big blocks will do great things for the immediate area. Maybe no more stabbings at the bus stop.

Does anyone know anything else about this? I'm not sure what the whole delay has been...although I read this article the other day in the HBJ about physician owned medical facilities and wonder if it had something to do with it:

http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/heal...ton_story3.html

[HtownTX]

The signs for the physician-owned medical offices have been taken down. Also heard a rumor that this project has been cancelled. Anyone know what's happening?

[RedScare]

I read an article a few months ago that discussed serious ethical issues with doctor owned hospitals. There were debates about doctors funneling patients to their own hospitals to run up fees. Don't remember if they mentioned this one as an example, or if that has anything to do with this project, but I thought of this place when I read the article.

[HtownTX]

I was (am) really hoping the hospital near Webster and LaBranch would be built. Seems it would have to contribute significantly to the area's revitalization.

[TheNiche]

I've heard from sources close to this deal that it's pretty much dead in the water. I wish I could disclose the source, but I can't.

Was there ever really any doubt as to the fate of these things? The locations were so completely oddball to begin with...and with the TMC so close by? I could see medical office buildings being put up near Greenway Plaza or Rice Military, but jeez...who wants to directly compete with the 800-pound gorilla?

[ricco67]

Was there ever really any doubt as to the fate of these things? The locations were so completely oddball to begin with...and with the TMC so close by? I could see medical office buildings being put up near Greenway Plaza or Rice Military, but jeez...who wants to directly compete with the 800-pound gorilla?

While I would agree that TMC is really close by, perhaps it would work for people that simply don't WANT to be in the medical center for their medical stuff. The population in Midtown/montrose is getting large enough where it would need it's own medical complex.

[TheNiche]

While I would agree that TMC is really close by, perhaps it would work for people that simply don't WANT to be in the medical center for their medical stuff. The population in Midtown/montrose is getting large enough where it would need it's own medical complex.

A disproportionate amount of the population in Montrose/Midtown is youthful. The ideal customer base for a large medical office building is elderly.

If they scaled it down a bit (because it isn't affiliated with a hospital) and put it on Allen Parkway/Memorial Drive, where it could effectively access people from Heights, Rice Military/Washington Ave, Downtown, Montrose, Midtown, and the eastern portion of Memorial, then sure.

But to put it three + or - miles from the TMC...

Edited June 3, 2006 by TheNiche

[Trophy Property]

I read an article a few months ago that discussed serious ethical issues with doctor owned hospitals. There were debates about doctors funneling patients to their own hospitals to run up fees. Don't remember if they mentioned this one as an example, or if that has anything to do with this project, but I thought of this place when I read the article.

I could tell you some stories. Early in my career I manged professional buildings. For a few years I ran a building that was connected to a Dr's Hospital. The un-ethical behavior was out of control. I was pretty much clean, but I had to step away from a few deals and wash my hands. The Dr's group would open lavish offices and run it through the hospital. The more you admitted to the hospital the better your digs were.

I also worked for Columbia / HCA in their heyday and they had some shady accounting going on there. I was 26 and pretty new nothing at the time, but even then I knew there was some bad stuff going on. The people that ran those hospitals were money grubbing bottom line dirt suckers. That is not the type of hopsital I want to be in when the ____ hits the fan.

My opinion, hopsitals should be non profit. Pay the people who work there well, but lets try not to de-fraud medicare to boost the bottom line.

HCA was Enron before Enron was evil !!

[KinkaidAlum]

The locations didn't seem that odd to me.

The Midtown location is adjacent to St. Joseph's Hospital. Now that that facility has been saved, it doesn't seem too strange to put a physician owned tower close by.

The Main Street location did seem a little bit more strange, but with the light rail making easy connections to the TMC quite easy, I could see the niche there. Plenty of patients LOVE the quality care you can get at the TMC but HATE the traffic and parking nightmares. There are plenty of folks who would love to (and would pay for) TMC doctors in an off-site setting I would think...

[TheNiche]

The locations didn't seem that odd to me.

The Midtown location is adjacent to St. Joseph's Hospital. Now that that facility has been saved, it doesn't seem too strange to put a physician owned tower close by.

The Main Street location did seem a little bit more strange, but with the light rail making easy connections to the TMC quite easy, I could see the niche there. Plenty of patients LOVE the quality care you can get at the TMC but HATE the traffic and parking nightmares. There are plenty of folks who would love to (and would pay for) TMC doctors in an off-site setting I would think...

St. Joseph was saved after the announcement of these medical towers were made...I don't think that the developers had a clue what they were getting themselves into. Even now, I still don't think that that much square footage is necessary. There's enough inexpensive vacant space as it is.

As for Main Street, do the doctors have any interest in being 15 minutes or more away from the hospital that they are themselves affiliated with? Sure, it helps that there is light rail...but it still takes quite a bit of time. Case in point: the medical office building at the Fannin/Knight intersection was less than 10% occupied for about a year and a half when TWU backed out of the deal to occupy it. In attempting to be a medical office building that was not affiliated with a hospital and was even a little bit outside of the TMC, it became a failed investment. There have also been medical office buildings proposed along Holcombe, both east and west of the TMC, that have failed to generate enough preleasing...the lack of a hospital affiliation killed them.

A lot of inexperienced developers see these sky-high rental rates and slim amounts of vacancy among medical office buildings and get the idea that it there is an opportunity that other developers are passing by. But building a successful medical office building is enormously difficult...they usually spend tens of thousands of dollars on preliminary items, but get shot down when the lender commands them to either get a market study or to bring them signed preleasing agreements.

[Houston1stWordOnTheMoon]

Whats going on with the proposed doctors office building to be built on Alabama, right near the over pass/on ramp for Hwy 59?

[KinkaidAlum]

Niche-

All of what you say is true. I do think that the biggest difference between the Midtown location and the Plaza de Oro location comes down to the old real estate mantra... LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION.

For the most part, South of the Med Center is still a waste land despite the efforts to build the South Campus research spot. That part of Houston has always felt a little disconnected to me.

The Main St location in Midtown however was right on the rail line, next to the Spur exit from US 59, and in an area that was already blossoming. It's also relatively close to the Park Plaza Hospital in the Museum District.

[ricco67]

You know, something else just occured to me.

Perhaps it would be just as well as it would be down the line from TMC. If a patient for whatever reason, needs additional tests or something more urgent that (but not an emergency) then perhaps they could just as easily go to TMC on the rail.

Some of us had instances when we would go to our local PCP and wound up having to take additional tests or see a specialist and we would inevitably have to go to another location for that test/specialist or 2nd opinion.

With the TMC down the road, it wouldn't be that much of a hassle.

[TheNiche]

Niche-

All of what you say is true. I do think that the biggest difference between the Midtown location and the Plaza de Oro location comes down to the old real estate mantra... LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION.

For the most part, South of the Med Center is still a waste land despite the efforts to build the South Campus research spot. That part of Houston has always felt a little disconnected to me.

The Main St location in Midtown however was right on the rail line, next to the Spur exit from US 59, and in an area that was already blossoming. It's also relatively close to the Park Plaza Hospital in the Museum District.

Tell that to the doctor that has to sacrifice 15 extra minutes per trip to or from his affiliated hospital...what is the doctor's opportunity cost? And you shouldn't discount the effect that a hospital/medical office building affiliation has on occupancy. Only the smaller unaffiliated medical office buildings are typically successful. In nearly every other case, medical office buildings must be anchored by hospitals that are within immediate walking distance. Case in point: the proposed La Branch @ Binz building will work because it is in immediate proximity to Park Plaza but also is close enough to the TMC and light rail for other options to be available.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but the aesthetic notion of a given area being perceived as a 'waste land' has very little to do with business decisions. You should realize that today's wastelands are tomorrow's urban activity centers. TMC is largely hemmed in on the east, north, and west...south is the only open path. If there is any doubt as to the scale of future development go to the top level of the parking garage serving the future University General Hospital and survey the surrounding landscape.

[KinkaidAlum]

Niche-

I agree with you about the long term future of the Plaza de Oro/Old Spanish Trail area. It has nowhere to go but up.

As for busting my bubble...I don't think you did. You yourself stated the low occupancy of the Camridge building. Once they lost their major "tenant" it became a speculative office project. There's no doubt in my mind that the conditions of the surrounding areas TODAY play a major role in the difficulty of finding tenants.

[TheNiche]

Niche-

As for busting my bubble...I don't think you did. You yourself stated the low occupancy of the Camridge building. Once they lost their major "tenant" it became a speculative office project. There's no doubt in my mind that the conditions of the surrounding areas TODAY play a major role in the difficulty of finding tenants.

You tried to compare market conditions in one area that you described as a "waste land" to an area that you described as "booming". In my response, I deflated the notion that the south side of the TMC was a wasteland and made sure to drive home the idea that expected future conditions in that area are very bright. By doing this, I nullified the contextual meaning of the statement that you made regarding the "old real estate mantra". Moreover, I addressed the need for hospitals as anchors--Main Street in Midtown has none.

The example that I'd used at Fannin and Knight is history--it occurred in the past. The immediate future in that area is very bright; I even mentioned the University General Hospital, which will itself create medical office opportunities that will be particularly strong if it grants affiliation to a development project. This is certainly a better opportunity than along Main Street in Midtown, where there are no anchor institutions.

[KinkaidAlum]

Cool beans.

You are a God.