Lillibridge leaps up in developer rankings

CHICAGO, Ill., Mar-24, 2010 -Lillibridge has perennially been one of the leading developers in Modern Healthcare magazine's annual "Construction & Design Survey." But after a solid year in 2008, the Chicago-based healthcare real estate firm outdid itself in 2009. It more than doubled its development revenues and leaped into the top 10 in last year's rankings, which were published in the trade magazine's March 15 edition.

Lillibridge generated revenues of $133.39 million on its completed healthcare real estate development projects in 2009, according to the survey, an increase of 226.2 percent - far ahead of the other top 14 developers in the survey. The firm completed more than 621,000 square feet of space last year, an increase of 164.4 percent.

How did Lillibridge manage to more than double its healthcare real estate development revenues during the worst recession since the Great Depression?

"We have been working collaboratively with healthcare clients for more than 30 years to help them grow through sound real estate advice, execution and capital," explains Lillibridge President & CEO Todd W. Lillibridge. "But experience, trusted relationships and a rock-solid capital structure are more important than ever during challenging times."

Indeed, when most financial markets were frozen last year, Lillibridge was able to secure $250 million in new debt financing from multiple lenders, as well as a new equity investment of $30 million from Prudential Real Estate Investors, continuing a long-standing relationship between the two organizations.

"We build relationships that last - whether that is with investors, lenders, clients or tenants," adds John Montgomery, Executive Vice President of Facility Development. "We have experience in 36 states, in more than 75 local healthcare markets and with more than 5,000 physicians."

"Our Physicians First(SM) customer service approach is engrained in our culture," Mr. Lillibridge says. "We like to say that we have built this company ‘one square foot at a time.' "

Some of the larger projects that Lillibridge completed in 2009 included:

• The four-story, 107,000 square foot Inova Fair Oaks III medical office building (MOB) on the campus of Inova Fair Oaks Hospital in Fairfax, Va. (shown above)
• The three-story, 107,000 square foot Office Building I, which opened late last year on the campus of Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco, Texas
• The three-level, more than 85,000 square foot Highland Springs Medical Plaza, developed for Loma Linda University Medical Center and three partners in Beaumont, Calif.

The 31st annual Modern Healthcare Construction & Design Survey used revenues to rank the top companies in five categories: development companies, construction management companies, general contractors, architectural firms and design/build companies. It also listed the top projects by category.