Medistar Corporation Announces Closing and Funding for P3 Developments at Texas A&M Innovation Plaza in Houston

HOUSTON, July 7, 2021 (Newswire.com) - Medistar Corporation ("Medistar") is pleased to announce the June 24, 2021, closing and funding with partner Healthcare Trust of America ("HTA") and lender CIM Group ("CIM") for construction of the 19-story, 714-bed Life Tower student housing high-rise and a 13-level parking garage for 2,700 vehicles. Already under construction and on schedule to deliver mid-2022, these projects are being developed by Medistar in the recently announced strategic partnership with HTA to complement Texas A&M's Discovery Tower, home to Texas A&M's groundbreaking Engineering-Medicine ("EnMed") program at the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical center in the world.

To ensure Summer 2022 delivery of safe, secure, convenient and affordable student housing — the highest priority for Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp and the Board of Regents at this first-ever Texas A&M campus in Houston — Medistar's CEO Monzer Hourani directed general contractor Harvey Builders to break ground for Life Tower on Sept. 16, 2020. At the time of yesterday's closing and funding, construction on Life Tower was on the 19th floor and on track to top out by July 2, 2021.

On June 1, construction began on the parking garage — which will be the largest serving the TMC market — with the demolition of the existing three-story parking structure. Vertical construction of the new garage, which will include retail activation at grade, will serve as the podium and foundation for the Horizon Tower, pursuant to the strategic partnership forged earlier this quarter between HTA and Medistar in order to finance and co-develop this 17-story, 485,000-square-foot medical office and life sciences tower that is expected to commence construction in 2022. 

Located at the TMC's gateway intersection of Main, Holcombe and Fannin, Horizon Tower is the first transit-connected Class A high-rise tower with "across the street" walkability available to "for-profit" uses and occupiers, with 150,000 square feet of research space (including wet labs and vivaria) and 334,000 square feet of office space for medical, clinical, surgical and customer-facing functions. Visit www.HorizonTowerTMC.com and contact Tim Relyea, Bill Hartman, Morgan Colt and James Gale at Cushman & Wakefield for leasing information.

"At $550 million total investment, this 2.2 million-square-foot public-private partnership development is one of the largest ever undertaken at the Texas Medical Center and is the largest of the Texas A&M University System outside its flagship campus in College Station. Medistar is honored to have this special opportunity and fortunate to have such a strong and agile strategic partner in HTA," said Medistar's founder and CEO Monzer Hourani. 

Added Craig Laher, Medistar's Senior Vice President for Development and development officer for the P3 program, "Together with Texas A&M's leadership, our strategic partnership with HTA, and our lender, CIM Group, this completes the formation of an accomplished, world-class project team of industry titans that already included the talented design and construction firms led by Kirksey Architects and Harvey Builders and explains why we're on-budget and actually ahead of schedule despite the numerous headwinds of COVID-19, labor shortages, inflating prices, two hurricanes, and the worst winter storm of our generation. This project team is truly special."

ABOUT MEDISTAR

Medistar Corporation is a real estate development company headquartered in Houston, Texas. As it has since 1974, Medistar specializes in the development, financing, and acquisition of real estate across the United States. Since its founding, medical real estate has been Medistar's primary focus, including a comprehensive array of acute, surgical, specialty and post-acute hospitals, and ambulatory buildings. Medistar also is active in the development of multifamily, commercial and mixed-use projects and is currently developing Central Station, a $300 million mixed-use, transit-oriented development adjacent to the growing ASU Downtown Phoenix Campus. In Houston, Medistar developed the 35-story LATITUDE Med Center apartment tower and adjacent 22-story InterContinental Houston Medical Center hotel to serve the Texas Medical Center (TMC). Please visit www.MedistarCorp.com for more information.

ABOUT HTA

Healthcare Trust of America, Inc. (NYSE: HTA) is the largest dedicated owner and operator of medical office buildings in the United States, comprising approximately 25.6 million square feet of GLA, with $7.5 billion invested primarily in medical office buildings as of March 31, 2021. HTA provides real estate infrastructure for the integrated delivery of healthcare services in highly desirable locations. Investments are targeted to build critical mass in 20 to 25 leading gateway markets that generally have leading university and medical institutions, which translates to superior demographics, high-quality graduates, intellectual talent and job growth. The strategic markets HTA invests in support a strong, long-term demand for quality medical office space. HTA utilizes an integrated asset management platform consisting of on-site leasing, property management, engineering and building services, and development capabilities to create complete, state-of-the-art facilities in each market. This drives efficiencies, strong tenant and health system relationships, and strategic partnerships that result in high levels of tenant retention, rental growth and long-term value creation. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, HTA has developed a national brand with dedicated relationships at the local level.

Founded in 2006 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012, HTA has produced attractive returns for its stockholders that have outperformed the US REIT index. More information about HTA can be found on the company's website (www.htareit.com), Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

ABOUT CIM

CIM Group is a community-focused real estate and infrastructure owner, operator, lender and developer. Since 1994, CIM has sought to create value in projects and positively impact the lives of people in communities across the Americas by delivering more than $60 billion of essential real estate and infrastructure projects. CIM's diverse team of experts applies its broad knowledge and disciplined approach through hands-on management of real assets from due diligence to operations through disposition. CIM strives to make a meaningful difference in the world by executing key environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives and enhancing each community in which it invests. For more information, visit www.cimgroup.com.

CONTACT
Paul McCleary
Senior Vice President, Business Development
Medistar Corporation
[email protected]

Source: Medistar Corporation