Developing about $366M of healthcare projects in the ‘burbs in the last 10 years, PMRG's Glen Perkins will finish this year having developed about 30 freestanding ERs across the southwest. (Breaking your leg just got that much more convenient.) And, because of the Affordable Care Act, PMRG will be building even more healthcare facilities.

Glen, who’s been working in commercial real estate since the ‘80s, says the addition of 32 million more insured people through the Affordable Care Act means providers need more space to serve more patients. Couple that with an aging population and Glen sees constant need. ULI studies indicate that in 10 years, there will be a need for an additional 65M SF of healthcare facilities to meet the growing demand for services.

Glen (here after elk hunting in Colorado) tells us hospital systems started moving out into residential communities as a way to make healthcare more convenient to patients and expand their reach, as well as to save costs. PMRG initially worked with a physician group to build the 56k SF Tuscan Professional Building in Las Colinas. That’s often still considered the optimal size for these MOBs, Glen says, because larger buildings are harder to fill with small-scale physician practices.

Many specialties are making the move to the outlying areas, too, he says. The freestanding ERs are a good example. He's building them across the Metroplex. He’s also just completed the second phase of the Forney Medical Plaza (pictured). A 90k SF medical facility in Rockwall that PMRG developed was so successful that Texas Health Resources selected an adjacent site to build its new regional hospital, he tells us. Glen just returned from a major elk hunt and loves to head to his second home in Steamboat when he has the opportunity to escape the office.