Friday, 10/19/07 By RICHARD LAWSON & WALKER DUNCAN
Nashville Post.com
St. Thomas Moving Functions to MetroCenter

St. Thomas Health Services has leased office space in MetroCenter to open up room on its hospital campuses.

In a couple of months, St. Thomas will move administrative functions into 45,000 square feet of the First Image Building at 501 Great Circle Road. The building emptied out earlier this year when Metro courts moved from the space. Other tenants in the building are leaving as well.

St. Thomas' move will open space at its Harding Road and Baptist Hospital campuses. The plan is to convert that space to clinical use and/or medical office space according to a St. Thomas spokesman.

Nearly 300 people from the revenue cycle and finance departments of St. Thomas and Baptist hospitals along with those from Middle Tennessee Medical Center will make the move by the end of the year.

The move is an effort to consolidate the departments in an effort to increase efficiency. This is the latest in a string of moves by the health system with consolidation and efficiency as the chief goals. Earlier this month St. Thomas Health Services announced that much of the cardiac care at both Baptist and St. Thomas was being brought together under a single umbrella, St. Thomas Heart.

New York-based Embassy Square bought the 110,000-square-foot First Image Building last year from Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance for $5.6 million knowing that it could be emptying out.

Todd Alexander, a broker with Southeast Venture, represented the landlord in the transaction. Rick Helton, a broker with ProVenture Commercial, represented St. Thomas.

The office lease is one of the largest ones done this year. And, it's yet another win for MetroCenter, which has been surging with office users, mostly government, for the past several years.