BELLAIRE – (Realty News Report) – The city of Bellaire, located about four miles west of the world’s largest medical center, has been selected by UT Physicians for a large office facility.
Transwestern Real Estate Services announced UT Physicians has signed a 139,243-SF lease at the Bellaire Station building at 6500 West Loop South in Bellaire.
A long, low building with 600-foot corridors, was formerly occupied by AT&T. It is a distinctive five-story structure along Loop 610 between Bissonnet and Bellaire Boulevard.
Transwestern’s Lisa Bovermann represented UT Physicians. Justin Brasell, Doug Little and Ashley Cassel represented the landlord, Capital Commercial Investments.
Bellaire – The De Facto Texas Medical Center Annex
Bellaire has seen a number of medical-related office leases recently. In 2019, Houston Methodist leased 100,000 SF in the former Chevron building (now owned by SLS Properties) located at Loop 610 and Fournace Street. Chevron, which once had 900 employees there, left behind a 30-acre, low-density campus would be a significant redevelopment opportunity if it were not located within the carefully planned city of Bellaire where growth proceeds deliberately.
But Bellaire, which has many residents employed in the medical industry, is a “straight shot” down Bellaire Boulevard from the Texas Medical Center. Over 100,000 people work at the Texas Medical Center, where 26,000 babies are born every year and 180,000 surgeries are performed annually. Some $3 billion in construction is underway at the medical center, where the UT Health Science Center medical school is located.
“We are finding that the Bellaire submarket is a strong alternative to the Texas Medical Center,” said Transwestern’s Brasell. “Accessibility to the 610 Loop and the abundance of restaurants, shops, residential areas and schools is one of Bellaire’s greatest strengths. While only seven minutes west of the TMC, Bellaire provides easy navigation for patients and the elderly, lower parking costs and access to routine medical services and practices such as obstetrics, family practice and pediatrics.”
The former AT&T building, now called Bellaire Station is a 389,826-SF office building. Recent upgrades that were negotiated into the UT Physicians lease include increased parking capacity, new patient drop-off areas in the front and rear of the building, HVAC upgrades to support a clinical setting and medical equipment, elevator enhancements, and remodeling of the lobby space to create an enhanced patient experience.
“UT Physicians came to Transwestern to help guide them through a strategic consolidation effort in the Bellaire submarket that would reduce their overall cost, footprint and increase their efficiencies in providing the best healthcare services to their patients,” said Bovermann. “We took the challenging initiative to utilize the soft-office market to identify traditional office buildings that could be repurposed for medical office use. 6500 West Loop South checked a number of boxes including parking, accessibility and a landlord who was eager to make all the necessary changes to ensure the client’s needs were met.”
Dec, 5, 2021 Realty News Report Copyright 2021
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File: TMC2: Bellaire Gains Another Medical Tenant
Image: Courtesy Transwestern