U of M Buys Land for Future Health Facility

BRIGHTON, MI-The Board of Regents for the University of Michigan has purchased about 30 acres of land here for almost $7 million for the construction of a new specialty and diagnostic facility on the site. The property, at Karl Greimel Drive and Challis Road, is next to the university’s existing Brighton Health Center. Local developer Mike Corrigan sold the property, which is zoned for retail.

According to Timothy Slottow, EVP and CFO of the university, the new facility will support additional clinical space for medical school training programs and clinical trials, expand its health system into a critical market with diagnostics and specialty care for the referral of complex cases, and demonstrate a long-term presence and commitment to patients in the market. Future expansion may include existing primary care services and inpatient or other hospital-based services, Slottow said in a letter to the Regents. The college is paying for the land by increasing the commercial paper issuance under the commercial paper program, secured by a pledge of general revenues, he said in the letter. A university spokeswoman reportedly said that the college does not yet have a timetable for the construction. She did not return a call for comment on the cost and size of the planned facility.

Steve Morris, executive managing director and principal with Newmark Knight Frank’s Detroit office, represented the university in the transaction. He said in a statement that the purchase is an example of the continued growth, northwest of Detroit, of healthcare providers, which ties into the westward move of residential growth in the area. Brighton, along Interstate-96, is still on the outskirts of growth for Detroit.