Why Medical Office Buildings Offer Superior Cost Segregation Opportunities
Medical office buildings contain specialized infrastructure far exceeding standard office construction. Medical gas systems, enhanced electrical capacity, specialty plumbing, and purpose-built clinical spaces all create cost segregation opportunities yielding higher accelerated depreciation percentages than general office properties.
Healthcare tenant buildouts typically include expensive specialty improvements. The combination of exam rooms, procedure spaces, diagnostic areas, and patient amenities creates concentrated opportunities for identifying components with 5-year or 7-year depreciation lives.
Building systems in medical office properties often exceed code requirements to support healthcare operations. Enhanced HVAC for infection control, emergency power for continuous operation, and sophisticated security for HIPAA compliance all may qualify for accelerated treatment.
Even newer medical office buildings benefit from cost segregation. The specialized nature of healthcare construction means significant percentages of building cost qualify for shorter depreciation periods regardless of when the building was constructed or acquired.
Healthcare-Specific Building Components
Medical gas systems including oxygen, vacuum, nitrous oxide, and medical air piping serve healthcare operations specifically. These specialty systems represent significant building cost and typically qualify for accelerated depreciation separate from general building plumbing.
Enhanced electrical systems for medical equipment include isolated ground circuits, dedicated transformer capacity, voltage regulation, and emergency power connections. These specialty electrical installations qualify for accelerated treatment based on their specific function.
Specialty HVAC serving procedure rooms, laboratories, and imaging suites provides enhanced air filtration, temperature control, and humidity management. These systems often qualify for different depreciation treatment than general building HVAC.
Nurse call and communication systems connecting patient rooms with staff stations qualify as specialized equipment. The technology infrastructure supporting healthcare operations typically qualifies for 5-year or 7-year depreciation.
Tenant Mix and Improvement Considerations
Medical office buildings with diverse tenant mixes contain varied improvement types. Primary care buildouts differ from specialty practices, imaging centers, or ambulatory surgery facilities—each with distinct cost segregation characteristics.
Landlord-funded improvements for medical tenants often include specialty infrastructure. Medical gas rough-ins, enhanced electrical service, and plumbing modifications for specific uses become landlord property qualifying for cost segregation.
Equipment connections and utility preparations represent depreciable improvements even before tenant equipment installation. The infrastructure supporting medical operations creates acceleration opportunities regardless of who owns the connected equipment.
Common area investments in medical buildings often include enhanced waiting areas, patient amenities, and accessibility features. These improvements contain accelerated depreciation components benefiting the overall property study.
How Goodlane Group Supports Medical Office Building Owners
Goodlane Group connects medical office building owners with cost segregation firms experienced in healthcare properties. Our network includes engineers who understand medical building systems and specialty healthcare construction requirements.
We provide preliminary estimates considering your property's specialty system investments and tenant mix. Medical office buildings typically yield significantly higher accelerated depreciation percentages than general office, and our estimates reflect this potential.
Our team helps coordinate with healthcare tenants and building engineers to document specialty systems accurately. Complete documentation of medical-specific improvements improves study accuracy and audit defensibility.
Beyond initial studies, Goodlane Group supports medical office owners through tenant transitions and healthcare industry evolution. As medical practices and technology advance, we help ensure depreciation treatment reflects current property improvements.