John Thomas, CEO of Physicians Realty Trust (NYSE: DOC), joined REIT.com for a CEO Spotlight video interview at REITWeek 2016: NAREIT’s Investor Forum at the Waldorf Astoria New York.
Physicians Realty Trust is a medical office building REIT, primarily focused on leasing properties to doctors, hospital outpatient services, and healthcare delivery systems.
Thomas discussed the company’s recent $700 million purchase of 50 medical office facilities from Catholic Health Initiatives. He described the deal as “transformative,” noting that as the firm approaches its third year anniversary as a public company its asset base has grown to almost $2.5 billion.
“The market is fantastic, and we’ve got a lot of investor support,” Thomas said.
Physicians Realty is active in 30 states. Thomas said that once the company enters a new market, “we like to add scale.”
“We continue to look at the primary markets, but we also like the secondary markets. There’s really no state off limits,” he said.
Thomas also stressed the high level of tenant retention in the medical office segment. Once physicians and hospitals are situated in a location that draws in their patient base, they’re reluctant to leave, he said.
“The great thing about medical office is that it grows about 2 percent to 3 percent in bad economies, and in great economies it grows about 2 percent to 3 percent,” Thomas said.