Colliers helps Capital Digestive Care address massive patient demand and market opportunity during Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed increased demand and new challenges for the healthcare industry. Colliers’ client, Capital Digestive Care (CDC) is no exception.

Established in 2009, CDC has become the largest independent gastroenterology group in the Mid-Atlantic. Over the past few years, the group has doubled its head count, significantly increased patient visits and added COVID-19 testing to its daily services.

To meet this unprecedented demand, CDC‘s management team knew they needed a new state-of-the-art laboratory and new clinical space that would support the organization’s future needs in addition to its existing locations.

Colliers Executive Vice President Adam Schindler has worked with CDC for several years, helping the organization to reduce costs and operate more efficiently. For instance, in 2017, the Colliers team helped CDC acquire an off-market 100,000-square-foot, two-building medical office complex in a prime Washington, D.C., location. The transaction brought three separate clinical spaces together into one optimized facility.

When the CDC management team approached Colliers earlier this year, Colliers knew exactly what to do and what to look for to meet the organization’s needs. The team used market knowledge to locate and quickly deliver a repurposed office that doubled CDC’s lab space to meet increased patient needs caused by the pandemic and recent acquisitions.

Katie Kendall noted, “Colliers has had a really strong, long-term relationship with CDC. We have been their long-standing broker for real estate support.”

Colliers used its comprehensive in-house market research capabilities and the team’s expansive knowledge of the Washington, D.C. market to evaluate the most appropriate areas and facilities. Together, the group evaluated multiple property options and ultimately selected a 21,272-square-foot flexible office space located in a nine-building technology park at 11921 Bournefield Way in Silver Spring, MD.

The building is in an ideal location for CDC, according to Schindler.

He noted, “The building on Bournefield Way is near CDC’s administrative headquarters facility. It’s easily accessible via major highways and thoroughfares including Interstate 95, and it’s near restaurants and shops and the area’s largest hospital, the 180-bed Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center. Most importantly, the building is large enough to meet CDC’s need for a new pathology lab and expanded clinical laboratory services.”

Schindler said that Colliers’ biggest challenge with the project was negotiating with the building landlord to ensure that there was a “significantly above market improvement allowance” to repurpose the office building to a state-of-the-art laboratory facility that would support CDC’s infrastructure needs.

“Colliers had to make sure the landlord was comfortable with the usage of the building,” says Schindler. “To do that we worked with the landlords outside lab consultant, Facility Logix, to ensure that all building systems, including, HVAC, electrical, etc., would meet the necessary requirements for lab use. We also had to make sure that the landlord was comfortable with the tenant, and their credit, and that they were the right partner for CDC long term.”

He added, “The result was that the landlord was more than happy with CDC’s excellent credit history and agreed to spend a considerable amount of money to repurpose the building and deliver a turn-key medical facility to CDC.”

Schindler said the project, which began last August and was signed on March 17, was designed to move as quickly as possible because of the important need for any future COVID-19 testing. Roche Laboratories is working with CDC to create the first independent lab partnered in clinical diagnostics testing development.

“Because CDC’s business was growing so rapidly, speed to market was essential,” he said. “The building should be totally renovated by this October, or November, and ready for patient specimens.”

Dr. Michael Weinstein, CDC’s President and CEO, noted, “We are very happy with how this project has advanced. Our anatomic pathology and clinical laboratory division has experienced exponential growth, so we’re pleased to receive Colliers’ help in identifying and locating an appropriate facility that will fulfill our needs and enhance service to our patients and the community.”