Irvine-based healthcare property investor Healthpeak Properties Inc. (NYSE: PEAK), one of Orange County’s most valuable publicly traded companies with a market capitalization in excess of $14 billion, is considering moving its headquarters out of the state.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area is one potential site for relocation, as are the Nashville and Denver areas, according to reports.
Close to 160 employees could be affected by a move, in a story first reported by the Denver Business Journal. Healthpeak employs 223, according to this week’s Best Places to Work list.
The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade confirmed earlier this month it was in discussions with an undisclosed California-based firm for a potential relocation; subsequent statements made by James Croy, a Healthpeak senior vice president, during a public event identified the REIT as the firm considering a move.
Colorado’s economic development group has offered more than $5 million in performance-based incentives for Healthpeak to relocate. Other incentives for that location, or for Nashville or Dallas, have not been disclosed. It’s not known whether any California agencies are attempting to entice the company to remain in the state.
Croy said that Healthpeak officials view that state “as a place that is more conducive to growth than their existing Southern California home,” according to the Denver Business Journal.
Frequent Moves
Healthpeak’s no stranger to moves in and out of OC, although a move out of state would be a first.
It moved from OC to Long Beach in 2004, when the company was known as Health Care Property Investors, and it had a market value of about $3.8 billion, much lower than its current valuation.
In 2014 it returned to Irvine; at the time it was known as HCP and was valued closer to $20 billion.
It changed its name to Healthpeak last year. The REIT is known for developing and owning real estate in the Life Science, Senior Housing and Medical Offices sectors.
Other Relocations
Of the three regions reported to be vying for Healthpeak’s attention, Nashville—where the REIT already has an office—has had the most success enticing other OC firms to move of late.
Recent movers to that area include Mitsubishi Motors, whose domestic operations were formerly run out of Cypress, and Cryoport Inc. (Nasdaq: CYRX), a provider of cold-chain logistics services for the biopharmaceutical industry.
Cryoport, valued at about $2 billion, still has a large operational presence in Irvine.
