Investing group buys Rush Medical Office Building in Oak Park

A medical office building that is part of Rush Oak Park Hospital is close to being sold for roughly $54 million to an Arizona-based real estate investment trust.

Healthcare Trust of America Inc. announced earlier this week that it signed a definitive agreement deal for the 135,000-square-foot building, located at 601 S. Maple Ave. in Oak Park.

The space is an on-campus medical office building, which is fully leased under a triple-net arrangement through 2019 to Rush University Medical Center, according to a news release from the group. The hospital pays about $4.4 million for the leasing privilege, according to a past Wednesday Journal report.

Healthcare Trust of America Inc. is a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based real estate investment trust that's had a stake in the building since 2009. The group secured the mortgage last month, clearing the way for them to buy the building.

The structure is connected with an enclosed walkway to Rush Oak Park Hospital. This marks the first acquisition in the Chicago area for the company.

"The Rush transaction continues our company's focus on acquiring high-quality, on-campus assets that generate value for our stockholders," CEO Scott Peters wrote in the press release.

The building was last sold in 2006 for $52 million, according to a Wednesday Journal article published in April of that year. That sale reportedly brought $420,000 to the Village of Oak Park's coffers through the real estate transfer tax at that time.