UHS seeks to buy two office buildings
Hospital operator eyes $28M deal for more space in University Park
University Health System is looking to buy two office buildings to keep up with its quickly expanding workforce.
Officials hope to secure a $28 million deal for the buildings, located in University Park, a 3.2-millionsquare-foot business park near DeZavala Road and I-10.
About 1,000 of UHS’s 8,600 employees hold nonclinical positions and currently work in seven office buildings around San Antonio.
UHS leases most of those facilities, an annual expense of $2.3 million. The acquisition is expected to start saving the system money in two years and will have a “positive bottom-line impact” in its third year, according to UHS documents.
“University Health System has grown significantly in terms of locations, services and staff over the past decade as we’ve seen demand for services dramatically increase at University Hospital and across our large network of primary care and specialty care locations,” spokeswoman Leni Kirkman said in a statement on Friday.
In 2010, UHS employed 4,600, almost half as many people as it currently employs.
The taxpayer-funded hospital operator also brings in much more revenue. Ten years ago, UHS brought in $894 million in revenue, and this year expects to record $2.1 billion.
Kirkman said non-clinical employees work at University Hospital, the historic Robert B. Green hospital building and a business center on I-10 that the system purchased in 2006.
When UHS outgrew these locations, it began leasing space around town, including offices in Corporate Square, Chisholm Building, Highpoint Tower and University Park. The last of the leases expires in 2024.
UHS expects to close on the purchase of the two buildings by Dec. 31, but would still need to finish out the office space.
Board documents show renovations, electrical and computer wiring changes and cubicle furniture will cost roughly $10.6 million, which would bring the total project cost to $38.6 million.
The building’s owner is Clarion Lion Properties Fund, an international real estate investment firm,
which bought the pair of properties for $26.8 million in 2014. Previous tenants include USAA, which used more than 75 percent of the space, and a call center.
Neighboring businesses include biomedical and health care companies, including Acelityand UnitedHealth Group.
Kirkman said the work groups that frequently interact include payroll and human resources, which can be located adjacently.
“At the start of the pandemic, we quickly made accommodations to staff with temporary solutions like splitting shifts and enabling work from home,” she said. “These buildings provide a long-term solution as they will be configured to ensure staff have adequate space and barriers to reduce viral transmission.”