ULI Dallas-Fort Worth HELS Council: Dynamics of Health Driven Development

Webinar Summary: Strategies for sustainable communities consider an array of drivers including evolving demands for health and wellness and those affecting consumer/patient access and experience to services over time. In a post-pandemic environment, this will be particularly relevant during the residential ‘urban to suburban’ flight and the economy’s impact on retail. A medical village of complementary tenants can enhance mixed-use destinations for “live-work-play.”

In neighborhoods, convenient care campuses can offer transactional services with expeditious outcome with emergency and urgent care along-side primary care, mental health, physical therapy, imaging, dietary, podiatry services. Whatever the results, an analytical approach is required to identify highest and best uses to address health and wellness needs in the community.

How would higher acuity services factor into solutions? Can shorter-term, retail-style 3 to 5-year leases for tenant space replace the 10 to 15-year leases that are typical for healthcare services? Who leads the effort among the stakeholders, EDCs, developers, healthcare providers, property owners, politicians, etc.? And, what makes more sense: new or repurposing? These are a few of the questions that will be explored.