Avison Young, the world’s fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm,announced today that Avison Young Principal Julie Johnson, based in Phoenix, and Mark Johnson, an Executive Vice-President in the firm’s suburban Chicago office, have been named co-leaders of the company’s health care practice group in the U.S.
The newly created positions are designed to grow the firm’s health care business-line coverage while offering best-in-class service to users, owners, developers and investors of health care real estate. While leading the practice group’s day-to-day operations, Julie Johnson and Mark Johnson will focus on elevating awareness of Avison Young’s health care specialization within the national medical community.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to take our medical office and overall health care business- line coverage forward with Mark,” comments Julie Johnson. “We will use our experience and success in the health care property market to enhance our national practice group. Mark and I will be the conduits between the boots-on-the-ground service providers and our broad corporate platform. We look forward to expanding Avison Young’s health care footprint within all key markets.”
With health care representing more than 17% of American GDP, and that number anticipated to increase to upwards of 20% in the coming years, the new co-leaders believe that it is critical for Avison Young to have a strong presence and record of success in the sector. The new team has also identified new tactics within the sector and points to the “retailization” of health care and its effect on the way hospital systems and service providers view real estate as an opportunity to deliver results within the dynamic health care market.
“As a Principal-led firm, Avison Young works to create a culture of collaboration company-wide,” says Mark Johnson. “This collaboration is echoed within our health care practice group as our members create an open forum for this very exciting and continually evolving sector. Our group’s ultimate goal is to serve the diverse and individualized needs of our clients through our talented advisors, best practices, economies of scale, technological capabilities, and relationships. Taking a piece of the market share is critical for these health care providers, and real estate professionals are using retail-like metrics to analyze the health care sector. We look forward to adapting strategies that have been successful in retail to our health care practice.”
Julie Johnson has been a leader in health care real estate for more than 25 years in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Her in-depth knowledge of health care delivery, hospitals, providers, medical properties, managed care, construction and many deep relationships within the industry make her an expert in landlord representation, tenant representation, seniors housing site selection and health care property investments. She advises clients on real estate decisions related to both medical office buildings and seniors housing.
Julie Johnson, CCIM is active in the commercial real estate industry and many philanthropic efforts in her community. She is a member of NAIOP, LAI (Lambda Alpha International), Urban Land Institute (ULI), CoreNet Global, AZ CREW, Phoenix Community Alliance, Arizona BioIndustry Association, the Central Arizona CCIM chapter, Central Arizona Society for Healthcare Engineering, the Arizona Assisted Living Federation of America, and Valley Partnership. She holds Board positions with LAI Phoenix, Friends of National Public Radio Arizona and Social Venture Partners Arizona.
Mark Johnson specializes in the business development and delivery of health care real estate services. He has more than 30 years of experience in managing and leasing real estate assets, with the last 23 years dedicated to serving the health care industry. During his career, he has held several health care real estate positions, including: Managing Principal, Cushman and Wakefield Healthcare Practice Group; Director of Property Management, Rush University Medical Center; Officer and Vice-President, Lillibridge Health Trust; and Senior Vice President, National Property Management Executive, Lend Lease Healthcare Development (formerly the DASCO Companies).
Mark Johnson is a long-standing member of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA). He is the past chairman of the BOMA International medical office building committee, and also served as a member of the Board of the Suburban Chicago BOMA chapter. He is currently a National Healthcare Institute board member, in addition to being the president of the group’s Chicago chapter. He also has written and spoken frequently on health care real estate topics, was a co-author of BOMA’s publication, Leasing and Managing Healthcare Real Estate, 2nd Edition, and founded the BOMA Medical Office and Healthcare Real Estate Forum on LinkedIn.