Overview & Challenge

WestHealth — anchored by Allina Health — was one of the first ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) developed in the country, offering same-day surgeries with independent doctors who use the surgery center. When it was built in 1994, the campus was viewed as the future of healthcare – “a hospital without beds” – and expanded three times due to its success. The three-building complex, connected through skyways, offers a state-of-the-art emergency room, urgent care, clinics, a 52-bed recovery center, and an ambulatory surgery center.

The complex, with a wide range of practice groups as tenants and connected to recovery care suites and specialty clinics, had been owned by Harrison Street since 2014 and was one of the first properties to attract investor interest in healthcare-occupied properties.

Harrison Street was ready to exit the investment and needed a buyer who understood the shift toward integrated, patient-centered outpatient care. At 96% occupancy and with Allina as the primary tenant, closing a complex deal of this scale required national reach, local expertise, and ten months of researching potential buyers.

Strategy

National Exposure + Local Expertise = Success
Chris Bodnar, head of CBRE’s US Healthcare Capital Markets, engaged with Forte’s Steve Brown, a 30-year real estate advisor who solely focuses on healthcare real estate, as the local market expert to take the complex to market. Brown originally sold the campus to Harrison Street, and approached the marketing through:

• Broad National Buyer Targeting: Showcased WestHealth’s stability and growth potential to healthcare-focused investors.
• Localized Insight: Forte positioned WestHealth as a sustainable, community-first healthcare asset within the Twin Cities market.

The partnership’s deep relationships with Allina Health were critical to structuring a win-win transaction on the high-profile asset that received extensive interest from potential buyers.

Results

• $72M Sale to Davis — As one of the Twin Cities’ largest outpatient transactions in 2024, Davis’ $72 million acquisition of the WestHealth complex was a landmark transaction in the local healthcare real estate market, ranking among the largest single-asset medical outpatient transactions in the Twin Cities.
• Strengthened Alliances — Reinforced decades-long ties between Forte, Allina Health, and the asset.
• Future-Proof Investment — WestHealth stands as a national model for integrated, patient-centered outpatient care.