Echo Real Estate Capital and Belay Investment Group Form Joint Venture for Value-Add Medical Office Deals

Echo Real Estate Capital, Inc. announced in October 2026 that it has formed a programmatic joint venture with Belay Investment Group, LLC, an institutional real estate investment management firm, to pursue value-add medical office investments in targeted regions of the United States.

Echo Real Estate Capital serves as the sponsor in the partnership, while Belay Investment Group is the capital partner. The structure pairs Echo's healthcare real estate experience with Belay's institutional capital and processes, according to Echo Founder and Principal Jon Boyajian.

Echo Real Estate Capital and Belay Investment Group Target Rapid Scale

"This new partnership combines Echo's extensive experience in healthcare real estate with Belay's access to institutional capital and processes. Together, we are targeting to achieve rapid scale and drive performance at our properties," Boyajian said.

Boyajian added: "We are very excited to partner with a group like Belay who shares our entrepreneurial spirit and pragmatic approach to value creation."

A programmatic structure allows partners to pursue multiple acquisitions under an agreed investment mandate rather than negotiating a new capital arrangement for each property. The venture's stated strategy is value-add, focused on medical office assets in selected U.S. regions.

First Acquisition: Northwest Indiana Medical Complex in Munster

The joint venture's first acquisition was the Northwest Indiana Medical Complex, a three-building, 132,805-square-foot medical office portfolio at 9100–9200 Calumet Avenue in Munster, Indiana. The acquisition closed in August 2026 with debt financing from Wintrust Bank.

The property's tenants include Powers Health, Rush University Medical Center, Dermio Dermatology and DaVita, along with The Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery, Munster Specialty Surgical Center, Plum Creek Surgery Center and South Suburban Surgical Suites.

The Munster transaction is Echo's ninth investment in Indiana since 2018.

Echo's Recent Medical Office Activity

Echo has been active in medical office across multiple markets. In Columbia, South Carolina, the firm acquired Landmark Medical Park, a two-building, approximately 150,000-square-foot medical office campus at 3600 and 3700 Forest Drive in the Forest Acres neighborhood. Echo said the purchase was its first investment in South Carolina. The properties sit across from a $100 million redevelopment of the former Richland Mall that includes a 120,000-square-foot Kroger, nearly 500 apartments, a six-acre public park and an entertainment venue.

In Denver, Echo purchased the two-building Rampart Medical Campus at 125 and 130 Rampart Way for $8.6 million. Echo also sold an on-campus medical office building in Haverhill for $9.57 million, reflecting an investment model that includes asset-level dispositions.

Market Context for Value-Add Medical Office

Medical office has remained one of the more defensive commercial real estate sectors, supported by healthcare utilization, outpatient migration and the continued shift of care from hospitals into ambulatory settings. The tenant mix at the Munster property, which includes health systems, specialty physicians, dialysis and multiple surgery centers, is consistent with that outpatient trend.

Value-add investors in the sector typically target returns through leasing vacant or underutilized suites, modernizing clinical and common areas, repositioning older buildings for specialty care and ambulatory surgery, improving tenant retention and benefiting from nearby hospital, retail or mixed-use redevelopment. Higher interest rates and tighter lending conditions have pressured transaction volumes and asset pricing across commercial real estate, increasing the importance of conservative leverage, durable tenancy and accurate underwriting of capital expenditures.

The partnership between Echo Real Estate Capital and Belay Investment Group gives the venture a platform to pursue additional acquisitions under a common mandate, building on Echo's existing Indiana footprint and its recent expansion into markets including South Carolina and Colorado.

Sources

• Echo Real Estate Capital: Echo Real Estate Capital, Inc. and Belay Investment Group, LLC form Programmatic Joint Venture
• Bisnow: Echo Real Estate Capital, Inc. and Belay Investment Group, LLC Form Programmatic Joint Venture