Colorado-Real-Estate-Journal_440783
INSIDE Designing buildings and spaces to boost Colorado’s quantum technology hub Creating a holistic wellness culture for our state’s older adults Spec suites Senior spaces PAGE 9 PAGE 17 Cherry Creek district’s Traverse Academy provides educational, therapeutic support Student health PAGE 5 January 2025 B uilding repositioning, some- times called repurposing or adaptive reuse, enables developers to revitalize existing buildings, enliven- ing disused properties and energiz- ing the surrounding community. These projects convert a building originally intended for one use, such as offices or banking, to a new use, like health care. Reusing an existing building gen- erates significant cost savings on fees like those to local jurisdictions and utility companies – and avoid- ing the approval process for a new building cuts down on the proj- ect’s timeline, usually by months, but sometimes years. Developers are familiar with the term “speed to market” for good reason – it’s what every medical tenant wants. With the cost, complexity and time required for ground-up builds, repo- sitioning offers a schedule benefit that can sometimes be the most valuable asset. When approach- ing repositioning for health care, developers must consider numerous angles to ensure that a building is a sound investment that will produce long-term benefits. The following six factors are key considerations: n Location. Iden- tify the priorities that will impact project location. If the tenant aims to co-locate near existing services to create a health care village or hub-and- spoke model, these approaches will produce different goals. However, quickly capturing market share is often the leading driver in reposi- tioning – and you get to pick your neighbors, which can result in com- plementary services not present in the traditional health care model. n Know your end user. Who will use the space? Will it be single-ten- ant or multitenant? Will it accom- modate blended uses like admin, clinical space, a café or residential behavioral health? If the building is intended for speculative develop- ment (with no tenants identified before construction), maximizing rentable square footage and enact- ing a flexible leasing strategy may take priority. n Know the code. Part of under- standing a building’s potential is understanding what is allowed in the area by right and what requires a conditional use permit; this is the first major hurdle of any repo- sitioning project. A proper facilities assessment is critical, as under- Mila Volkova, AIA, LEED GA Associate principal, Boulder Associates Please see Volkova, Page 10 Crucial considerations for health care repositioning projects After Before
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