A new hospital and medical center located in a corridor with two other competing hospitals and numerous independent and hospital-owned medical offices required some complex planning and negotiating, according to Laurie Botts, real estate division manager with the city of Orlando, and that's what earned the ScionHealth lease in the Upshot Medical Center at Mills Park South in Orlando, Florida's Winter Park neighborhood a 2023 CoStar Impact Award. The deal was selected by a panel of local industry professionals as the Lease of the Year for Orlando.
ScionHealth, a healthcare provider based in Louisville, Kentucky, is opening a new 64-bed, long-term acute care hospital within the Mills Park development, which has been one of Orlando’s premier live-work-play communities since 2014. The mixed-use, infill project at the epicenter of the market has remained incomplete, however.
The remaining 2.6-acre parcel was plagued with physical and legal obligations tied to the overall master development until the team at Upshot Capital Advisors acquired the land in 2019 and began working through a development strategy to bring a capstone project to complete the center.
The area is unique in that it is located in one of the fastest-growing markets in the U.S., and is home to two of the top 10 largest hospitals in the country. With the dramatic decentralization of the healthcare industry, Orlando is strategically positioned to attract large medical groups, healthcare specialists and life sciences companies from across the region.
Adding to the complexity of the lease was the highly sensitive and specialized nature of the tenant’s business needs, which required a higher level of planning and specificity in the project’s overall design. This required the full focus of the designers, general contractor, developer and leasing teams to put together a deal and project that would support ScionHealth's needs.
About the Deal: ScionHealth preleased the entire six-story, 85,578-square-foot medical office building currently under construction at 1724 N. Mills Ave. in Orlando. The South tower and the adjacent 70,988-square-foot North tower are expected to be completed this fall.
What the Judges Said: "I believe this lease and development will have the largest impact on the submarket and neighborhood as an example of a successful, Class A office project leading to a new mindset regarding density in and around the urban core of Orlando," said Isaiah Cottle, president and CEO of Green Slate Land and Development. "The project had significant challenges related to being the last undeveloped parcel in a complicated master development."
They Made It Happen: Connor Shimmel, senior associate with Jamison Commercial Partners in Orlando; Chuck Holliday, senior vice president at Jamison; Elliott Jamison, CEO of Jamison; Raul Socarras, CEO and founder of Upshot Capital in Orlando; and Juan Carlos Gomez, COO for Upshot Capital.
