Healthcare investment sales veteran Sabrina Solomiany has seen this before.
When the U.S. economy is hit by, or seems about to enter, a recession, commercial property investors seek safety in assets that typically outperform others during economic downturns, Solomiany said. She also sees one specific sector of healthcare real estate emerging as a popular pick.
"With the likelihood of an impending recession, all subsectors of health care real estate should perform well given the sector’s historical recession resiliency," Solomiany, a 20-year investment sales veteran, said in an email. "That being said, with mental health most recently being at the forefront of public and private investment, behavioral health assets are gaining popularity amongst investors."
Last week, Solomiany brought her experience and expertise in healthcare real estate to Berkadia, where as a senior managing director she leads the brokerage's new medical and life science specialty group. She works in the New York-based firm's Atlanta office.
Berkadia's medical and life science specialty group will provide advisory services for various sectors of healthcare real estate including medical office buildings, life science property, hospitals, surgery centers and behavioral health facilities.
During the most recent U.S. contraction that started with the official declaration of the pandemic, several companies in the life science industry attracted investor attention and grew quickly during the health crisis because of the race to develop vaccinations, tests and treatments for COVID-19. This growth fueled demand for lab spaces, clean rooms and other facilities devoted to life science and, in turn, attracted the attention of real estate investors.
When it comes to medical and life science property, buyers often focus on demand for the services offered inside the buildings as opposed to zeroing in on a geographic area, Solomiany said.
"For healthcare assets, proximity to and/or affiliation with a hospital, populations with high 65 and over age segments, and large percentages of commercially insured patients become the typical determinants of a strong investment," she said. "For life sciences assets, locations with a combination of academic institutions with high percentages of STEM graduates and research-focused health systems are generally ideal."
During her more than two decades in commercial real estate Solomiany has closed deals with $8.2 billion in total transaction volume, including $6.5 billion of healthcare and life science property covering a total of more than 22 million square feet of space.
She joined Berkadia from CBRE, where she worked for more than eight years and most recently served as a first vice president and lead of the debt and structured finance division for U.S. healthcare and life science. Before that, she was a senior director on CBRE's U.S. healthcare investment sales team.
Solomiany also worked at HFF, now part of JLL, for nearly six years.
She reports to Mike Miner, a senior vice president and deputy head of investment sales at Berkadia. Miner said in a statement that Solomiany "will be pivotal in expanding our footprint in this highly specialized space.”