We made a house call on Friday to BOMA International's 2011 Medical Office Buildings  and  Healthcare Facilities  Conference at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas. Development vital signs were good, says Morgan Keegan managing director PJ Camp (with panelists Morgan Keegan first VP Laca Wong-Hammond, Ventas Medical Office Properties EVP Todd Lillibridge, Nextcore CEO Greg Venn, Pacific Medical Buildings SVP Jim Rohan, and Lend Lease DASCO managing director Malcolm Sina). Mergers may be the most noticeable trend in the medical industry from the larger physician practices and hospitals joining forces with the developers, as well. Lillibridge sold its platform to Ventas last July; Todd says Chicago-based Ventas acquired Atria last fall and added Nationwide Health Properties in February.

Lend Lease DASCO is also the result of a merger; nine months ago Malcolm says it was approached by Lend Lease (the largest seniors housing developer in Australia) about "selling and merging our company into theirs," he says. With Lend Lease backing 'em, they have a $10B balance sheet of support now. It gives the San Diego-based firm a more national reach by allowing them to be in markets where they didn't have the resources to be on the ground. It has since formed a strategic alliance with Jones Lang LaSalle and is jointly marketing their services to provide end-to-end solutions.