REIT pays $29 million for medical campus in Carson

Todd Jensen, chief investment officer of American Realty Capital Healthcare Trust, says its purchase last week of Carson Tahoe Specialty Medical Plaza is a strong additional to the company's rapidly expanding portfolio of income-generating healthcare facilities.

ARC Healthcare Trust, a subsidiary of American Realty Capital of New York City, seeks to build its portfolio of healthcare facilities to $3 billion to $4 billion over the next four to five years, Jensen says. The public non-traded REIT paid $29 million for the 154,622-square-foot Carson Tahoe Medical Plaza.

The facility was attractive to American Realty Capital Healthcare Trust for several reasons, Jensen says. The plaza has a diverse tenant mix, which includes a long-term acute care program, imaging and ultrasound services, a lab, wound-care clinic and ophthalmology surgery center. The primary tenant, Carson Tahoe Regional Healthcare, also is the dominant medical provider in the region and carries a BBB rating from Standard and Poors, Jensen says.

"Within the healthcare niche we want to have a diversified pool of asset types. Carson Tahoe Regional Healthcare is a very strong operator and carries an investment-grade rating. This asset, while sizeable, carries many long-term leases, particularly with the primary tenant."

Jensen says the facility in Carson City, which was part of a three-property purchase totaling $60.9 million, came across ARC's radar through contacts with a developer in Texas that was preparing to divest a sizeable portfolio of medical properties. ARC was able to negotiate a sale for the three buildings, which include properties in Las Vegas and Phoenix, before the properties went on the open market.