Welltower Inc. (NYSE: HCN) announces the donation of its state-of-the-art, LEED-certified office buildings and approximately 100 acres of land for the benefit of The University of Toledo.
This transformational gift, at an estimated value of more than $30 million, is made possible through an innovative real estate agreement that transfers the company’s extensive Toledo property at 4500 Dorr St. to The University of Toledo Foundation.
Welltower’s corporate headquarters will remain in Toledo, where it has been located since 1986. As part of the agreement, Welltower will continue to occupy the 4500 Dorr St. North Building. The University of Toledo and the UT Foundation will evaluate the optimal uses for the gifted real estate to advance the University’s mission.
“We are thrilled to make this transformational gift to The University of Toledo,” said Tom DeRosa, Welltower’s chief executive officer. “As the global leader in health-care real estate, we are positioning Welltower for growth and optimizing our own real estate footprint. We have more space than we need and are focused on running the business more efficiently. This led us to consider more productive, community-minded uses of the campus. The University of Toledo is the ideal choice, and we are delighted to partner with them in such a meaningful and progressive way.
“It is a fitting tribute to our company’s founders, Fritz Wolfe and Bruce Thompson, to donate the building and grounds to an institution that so profoundly impacts the region and the community that the Wolfe and Thompson families loved dearly. We are honored to open the gates of this incredible campus to broader uses that will benefit the University and the Toledo community for generations to come.”
“We are grateful for this generous gift from Welltower, which affirms the important role of The University of Toledo to positively impact our community. This Toledo-based global company chose to invest in UT because of our capacity to contribute to the growth and development of our region, and we are thankful for their support,” said Dr. Sharon L. Gaber, president of The University of Toledo. “This is the largest gift in the University’s history and provides a unique opportunity to explore potential uses for this space that would best serve the University and the community, and contribute to our goal to be one of the top public, national, research universities.”
The donation by Welltower includes the 4500 Dorr St. Main Building’s 140,000 square feet of office space, which will be repurposed by the UT Foundation, and the approximately 31,000-square-foot North Building to be leased by Welltower as its corporate headquarters and office space for its Toledo-based employees. As a result, Welltower will significantly reduce the cost associated with its corporate headquarters.
Final transfer of the real estate and implementation of the lease-back structure are expected to occur by the middle of 2018. The company also plans to open an office in New York City in 2018. This adds an important local presence to support the company’s significant East Coast portfolio, and will function similarly to other regional offices in London, Toronto, Jupiter and Beverly Hills. Additionally, the company has real estate management offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Phoenix.
