Hospitals are typically buying up physicians' practices--and thus their buildings--but here's a deal that bucks that trend: Aequus 1 LLC, the partnership of physicians behind the 56k SF Charter Professional Building in Columbia, sold because it wanted to max the value of its real estate. They offered the property to a hospital, which passed on the deal.

Here are Colliers'Steve Weiss andGary Applestein, who repped the sellers and were snapped in their office this morning. They tell us Johns Hopkins Medical Management, which owns the Howard County General Hospital campus where10700 Charter Dr is located, declined the opportunity. Instead,Health Care REIT snapped it up for$20.6M. That's a high price at over $366/SF, but the sale was boosted in large part by its campus location, Gary tells us. It's also 98% leased and stabilized for five to 10 years.

Health Care REIT's Will Roberson, who spoke at Bisnow's New York Healthcare Real Estate Summit earlier this week, worked on the buy side of the deal. At our event, he made the case for buying up MOBs that are branded by a hospital system. That's not the case here, but Gary tells us a building that has 25% of tenants associated with a hospital system makes for a well-sponsored property, as those doctors can both grow organically and attract others affiliated with the same hospital. One-third of Charter Professional Building's tenants are connected to Johns Hopkins (which is enough to field a pretty solid softball team).