Artemis buys as medical office investments slow.

Byline: Matt M. Johnson

A Maple Grove medical office building that drew a $16 million price from a Maryland investor may be part of a commercial real estate class that could see a lot or little use in the near future.

Chevy Chase-based Artemis Real Estate Partners paid $5.5 million down on the purchase of the Grove Medical building at 9550 Upland Lane N., according to a certificate of real estate value made public late last week. The 13-year-old building is fully leased to several medical groups, including anchor tenant Gillette Children's Specialty Health Care.

The seller is the building's developer, Minneapolis-based Ryan Cos. US Inc. The two-story, 40,765-square-foot building is in the southeast quadrant of Interstate 94 and Maple Grove Parkway.

The deal, which closed on March 13, works out to $392.49 per square foot of space. Hennepin County values the property at $9.6 million for tax purposes.

Neither Artemis nor Ryan Cos. responded Tuesday to requests to comment on the transaction.

Medical space is still selling, said Brian Bruggeman, a vice president in the health care service group of the Twin Cities office of Colliers International. Deals, he said, are "just taking longer" to complete with people involved in deals working away from their offices and municipalities filing paperwork with short staffs.

Properties like Grove Medical, which are largely homes to doctor groups, are seeing a slowdown in their business since Gov. Tim Walz issued

an executive order March 13 that, among other things, limits elective medical procedures. That measure is meant to free up medical space and personnel to treat the COVID-19 outbreak.

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