By Lauren Ratcliffe
lratcliffe@scbiznews.com
Published June 6, 2012

Tenants in the Roper medical plaza have a new landlord after The Sanders Trust purchased the property earlier this month.

Sanders acquired the Charleston property for $19 million, including closing costs, according to Steve Hewett, senior vice president for Sanders. The company develops and acquires outpatient health care-related properties on or near hospital campuses.

“We think it is an outstanding building,” Hewett said. “The developer did a great job.”

The multi-use facility features primary care, eye care, orthodontics, dental care and an ambulatory surgery center. Soon, an on-site testing lab, CT scan and MRI facilities also will be located in the building.

“The Roper building truly defines the future of health care and how it will be delivered to patients,” Rance Sanders, president and CEO of The Sanders Trust said in a news release. “Technological advances have allowed many health care services to be delivered in an outpatient setting and patients have responded by demanding more convenient access to such services.”

No changes to the staffing or services will occur as a result of the acquisition.

“We are a landlord only,” Hewett said. “We do not have any say-so as to the operations there. Roper and every other tenant in that building rent the space.”

Currently the building is 94% occupied with one more tenant looking to rent space. No specific lease rates were provided, but Hewett said rents range in the low $20s per square foot.

The Veterans Administration also leases about 15% of the available building space but does not occupy clinical space.