Washington, D.C., investment trust to buy Jacksonville VA clinic (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Daily Record) — Easterly Government Properties Inc. of Washington, D.C., intends to buy the Jacksonville Veterans Affairs medical center under development in North Jacksonville.
It is among a portfolio of 10 properties fully leased to the VA, primarily under 20-year leases. The center is under construction for completion in summer 2023.
Easterly’s VA Portfolio
The 10 VA facilities in the portfolio total more than 1.2 million square feet of space.
“Easterly has now closed on seven of the 10 assets in the VA Portfolio through its JV and remains on pace to complete its previously stated $145 million pro rata JV acquisition target for 2022,” said Easterly CEO William C. Trimble III.
Easterly owns, directly or through the joint venture, 94 properties totaling 9.1 million square feet.
The “VA Portfolio” comprises 10 properties.
Those acquired are:
• Lenexa, Kansas, October 2021
• Lubbock, Texas, October 2021
• Chattanooga, Tennessee, November 2021
• San Antonio, December 2021
• Birmingham, Alabama, April 2022
• Marietta, Georgia, May 2022
• Columbus, Georgia, July 2022
Future acquisitions are:
• Phoenix, construction completed in February 2022
• Corpus Christi, Texas, in development
• Jacksonville, in development.
Easterly announced July 18 that it has, through its joint venture, completed the purchase of a 67,793-square-foot outpatient facility leased to the Department of Veterans Affairs in Columbus, Georgia.
It said the Columbus center is the seventh acquired in its previously announced portfolio of 10 properties 100% leased to the VA.
Easterly intends to buy the two-building, 193,100-square-foot Jacksonville VA center, but did not announce a date.
The North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System broke ground Dec. 15 for the $64.2 million VA outpatient clinic and domiciliary at 145 Heron Bay Road along Max Leggett Parkway northeast of UF Health North and River City Marketplace.
The domiciliary will provide an additional 30 beds of residential treatment capacity to the health system, said David Isaacks, North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System director, in a news release.
The clinic will offer MRI services, CT scanning and a women’s imaging center. Substance abuse, homeless and PTSD programs will be available.
The clinic will replace the Jacksonville VA Southpoint and University sites. The Jacksonville Outpatient Clinic on Jefferson Street in Springfield will remain open.
Permits show a $54 million, two-story, 173,200-square-foot outpatient center and a $10.2 million one-story domiciliary.
The Jacksonville Veterans Affairs medical center under construction July 27 along Max Leggett Parkway.
Jacksonville VA OPC LLC bought the 21.06-acre North Jacksonville site for $8.424 million on Dec. 22, 2021. BMO Harris Bank issued a construction mortgage of almost $89.3 million on Jan. 22.
Indiana-based Meyer Najem Construction LLC is the contractor. Alabama-based Sain Associates is the civil engineer.
Easterly announced Oct. 14 it entered into an agreement to acquire a 1.2 million-square-foot, 10-property portfolio of facilities leased to the Department of Veterans Affairs for $635.6 million.
It said the properties will be purchased in a joint venture with an undisclosed global investor, with Easterly retaining a 53 percent stake in the portfolio.
Easterly said it is a real estate investment trust focused primarily on the acquisition, development and management of Class A commercial properties leased to the U.S. government directly or through the U.S. General Services Administration.
Photo courtesy of the VA Administration