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Fort Worth, TX

9750 Hillwood Parkway, Fort Worth, TX 76177

Texas Oncology expands into Fort Worth, TX with Meridian’s help.

Texas Oncology engaged Meridian in a site search with the goal of finding a location in Fort Worth, TX, centrally located between two major hospital systems: Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Alliance and HCA Medical City Alliance. The search parameters led us to a 2.5-acre, vacant parcel, owned by Hillwood in Fort Worth’s Alliance Town Center. Meridian worked diligently with the owner to secure the site for a build-to-suit comprehensive cancer center project.

SOLUTIONS

The project was the first MOB in the area and required approval from the Alliance design review board and city. The site had over 25’ of natural grade change and challenging topography. Our design included a series of retaining walls and crawl space under the building to account for the expansive soil conditions. We created a highly efficient floor plan to reduce the size of the cancer center to +/-20,000 SF, instead of the typical 40-50,000 SF. The design included accommodations for a series of infusion bays, PET/CT, MRI rooms, and a linear accelerator vault (with room for a 2nd expansion vault). We secured additional offsite parking to supplement for future clinical expansion. Meridian combatted labor and supply chain issues throughout the project and de-risked by pre-ordering steel, HVAC units, roofing, and electrical equipment without permits to get ahead of long lead times. We also used our network of adaptive re-use buildings to supply temporary electrical panels and other items when necessary. The result was a client that was able to open for business on schedule.

RESULTS

Meridian completed construction on time and on budget. The result is a state-of-the-art cancer center built with a mix of pedestrian friendly and aesthetically pleasing architectural finishes, including stone veneer, metal paneling, multi-colored stucco, and decorative lighting. The building is sustainable and energy efficient, utilizing all electric equipment with no gas service. The site was extremely expensive to develop, so we worked with Hillwood to structure cost sharing on the land and offsite infrastructure required to get the project out of the ground. We purchased the land utilizing our balance sheet and income statement, and provided construction and completion guarantees to our lender. We partnered with Physicians Realty Trust to arrange the entire capital stack under a loan-to-own program. The final space lease rent was set using a guaranteed maximum develop cost from Meridian, and an open both rent constant where the rent could only go down.