Jim Bremner joins two other former Duke Realty executives launch new HRE development firm
One of the most familiar names in healthcare real estate (HRE) is back in the game. Jim Bremner has reunited with two former Duke Realty (NYSE; DRE) colleagues, Bill Mooney and Ron Penix, to form Bremner Real Estate. The new Indianapolis based HRE development firm opened for business in early July. In an exclusive interview with HREI in mid-August, Mr. Bremner told us, “I felt the space needs more boutique-like and flexible people like ourselves.”
“We want to have a small company that will provide an exceptional level of service in delivering developments,” Mr. Mooney added. He said the new firm doesn’t aspire to be national in scope, and will probably focus on the East and Southeast regions. Messrs, Bremner and Mooney say they envision a small, nimble, HRE development firm with the flexibility to serve the diverse needs of a few select clients, with a goal of developing perhaps four to six projects annually. “We are extremely optimistic about our pipeline, even after 30 days in business,” Mr. Mooney says.
Duke Realty acquired Mr. Bremner’s 21-year-old company, Bremner Healthcare Real Estate, in February 2007. Mr. Bremner then became president of Duke Realty’s healthcare group. He took an early retirement offer after about eight years with Duke Realty and left the firm in June 2015. Since then, he says he has enjoyed spending more time with his wife and family, traveling and concentrating on volunteer activities. But, at 62, he tells HREI that he is nowhere near ready to retire and he still has “a lot of energy and passion” for the HRE business. Mr. Bremner also says that it is just a coincidence that Bremner Real Estate was launched shortly after the acquisition by Healthcare Trust of America Inc. (NYSE: HTA} of the Duke Realty healthcare development unit and most of its medical office building (MOB) portfolio. He said the timing of the new business launch had more to do with the June 30, 2017, expiration of his two year non-compete-agreement with Duke Realty. However, he acknowledges that the recent HTA acquisition has created opportunities for former Duke Realty executives like himself and Messrs. Mooney and Penix.
Mr. Bremner provided consulting services to Physicians Realty Trust (NYSE: OOC) in connection with its recent acquisitions of several MOBs that had been developed by Duke Realty. {For more on that story, please see “Five questions for John Thomas” on Page 17 of this edition.) For now, both Mr. Bremner and Mr. Mooney say they are optimistic about the future of HRE market and upbeat about the prospects for their new firm. “I only want to focus on the things that I enjoy the most about the business,” Mr. Bremner says, including relationship building, deal making, helping health systems to achieve their missions and mentoring younger HRE professionals.
For more information, please visit HREinsights.com and look for a more extensive article about Bremner Real Estate in the next edition of HREI.
