A continued focus on healthcare facility construction and expansion bolsters CRE projects in O.C., L.A. and Inland Empire
From the nation’s first “all-electric” hospital to billion-dollar medical towers, commercial real estate firms focused on healthcare have expanded amid an otherwise sluggish real estate market. Healthcare construction has incorporated new technologies, and hospital owners have expanded as they provide services to an aging population. Additionally, hospitals need to comply with SB 1953, state legislation that requires facilities to retrofit or rebuild for earthquake safety by 2030.
In the midst of this medical boom, architecture firm AO, based in the city of Orange, acquired Alexander + Hibbs, a healthcare architecture firm, in an expansion that strengthened its healthcare studio and provided expertise in design work related to medical office buildings, outpatient facilities, specialty clinics and wellness environments.
At Los Angeles-based HMC Architects, Tim Hurvitz was recently hired as healthcare principal in charge. Hurvitz has more than two decades of experience designing, building and renovating healthcare facilities across California. In his new role, he will lead projects from concept through completion, collaborating closely with clients, caregivers and project teams to deliver innovative, efficient and healing spaces. The firm promoted Daniel Perschbacher to healthcare practice leader to lead the firm’s healthcare design strategy, innovation and growth.
HMC Architects is part of a design-build team with CO Architects and general contractor Hensel Phelps for the $1.8-billion Harbor-UCLA Medical Center redevelopment program. The project will replace the aging hospital with a new, nine-story, 555,000-square-foot tower that will have 347 patient beds and consolidate outpatient services on the 72-acre campus. It is expected to be completed by 2028.
CO Architects is also working on the new UCI Health – Irvine campus, which will be the country’s first all-electric medical center when completed this fall. It has utilized cutting-edge technology to optimize building design, including VR, AI and even gaming engines. The firm’s dedicated digital team created VR programs that let surgeons “test” simulated operating room layouts to finalize their configuration.
Earlier this year, CO Architects managing principal Jenna Knudsen was elevated to Fellowship of the American Institute of Architecture, recognition for her significant contributions to the practice of architecture throughout the United States. Other projects for CO Architects include City of Hope’s “Hope Plaza” outpatient complex in Duarte, which includes a courtyard healing garden between the new building and parking garage and a mesmerizing kinetic façade. The company also worked on modernizations of UCLA’s Pritzker Hall Psychology Building and LaKretz Botany Building, a Woodland Hills research facility for Terasaki Institute and a new medical school building for UC Riverside.
Architecture firm HOK and contractor McCarthy broke ground on Kedren Children’s Village in Watts, the first pediatric-focused behavioral health hospital in South Los Angeles. The $145-million project will provide inpatient, outpatient and urgent care, along with transitional housing and a federally qualified health center to expand access for youth.
HOK is also leading design for the neuropsychiatric hospital expansion at UCLA, which will unify multiple buildings into a modern facility that advances research and strengthens psychiatric care. The project is scheduled to open in 2026. In Irvine, HOK and contractor Hensel Phelps are nearing completion of the City of Hope cancer specialty hospital. The 73-bed facility connects directly to the Lennar Foundation Cancer Center and is scheduled to open by year-end.
In April, BNBuilders completed the SAC Health Brier Campus project in San Bernardino in collaboration with architecture firm Perkins&Will. The new 240,000-square-foot facility converted an existing office building into a health center that provides pediatrics, family medicine, behavioral health and dentistry.
Other notable projects include Riverside Community Hospital. The facility, an affiliate of HCA Healthcare, recently announced a $912-million expansion highlighted by an 11-story patient tower and parking garage designed by HKS Architects.
