Novant's $28/SF Leland Lease Unverified — But Brunswick County Medical Pipeline Is Real

Editor's Note: The specific lease transaction described below — a 45,000 SF full-building deal at 1403 N. Howe St., Leland — is sourced from brokerage-level deal intelligence and has not been independently confirmed through public records, CoStar, or Novant Health's official disclosures. We present the reported terms alongside verified context from Novant's confirmed $251.3 million hospital project in Leland. Readers should treat the lease terms as unverified until public confirmation emerges.

Deal Summary

A reported 10-year, 45,000 SF full-building lease by Novant Health at 1403 N. Howe St., Leland, NC — reportedly owned by Olympus Properties Inc. — would represent a significant medical office commitment in Brunswick County if confirmed. At a reported $28.00/SF NNN, the deal would be at the upper end of Leland medical office rents and generate approximately $1.26 million in annual base rent. Possession is reported for May 1, 2026, with the space reportedly slated for outpatient surgery suites and diagnostic imaging.

Fast Facts

• Tenant: Novant Health (unverified)
• Address: 1403 N. Howe St., Leland, NC
• Building Owner: Olympus Properties Inc. (unverified — not confirmed in Brunswick County records or commercial databases)
• Lease Size: 45,000 SF | full-building (unverified)
• Lease Term: 10 years (reported)
• Rent: $28.00/SF NNN (reported)
• Annual Base Rent: ~$1,260,000 (calculated from reported terms)
• Total Lease Value: ~$12.6 million over 10 years (calculated from reported terms)
• Possession: May 1, 2026 (reported)
• Use: Outpatient surgery suites and imaging (reported)
• Verification Status: Not confirmed via public records, Novant filings, or commercial listing databases

What Happened

The reported transaction involves Novant Health taking down an entire 45,000 SF building on the N. Howe St. corridor in Leland for ambulatory surgical and imaging operations. This would complement the system's separately confirmed plans for a 142,460 SF, $251.3 million hospital in Leland.

That hospital project — Novant Health Leland Medical Center — received Certificate of Need approval from the NC Department of Health and Human Services by March 2026. It will include 20 licensed beds (4 ICU), a 24/7 emergency department with 10 observation beds, and 5 procedure rooms (4 at operating room standards). Construction is slated to begin October 2027 with completion targeted for June 2029. The hospital site is located near Compass Pointe and U.S. 74/76 — a separate location from the reported 1403 N. Howe St. address.

The reported 1403 N. Howe St. lease, if real, would function as a bridge facility — giving Novant an operational presence in Leland roughly three years before the hospital opens.

Why It Matters

Brunswick County is the fastest-growing county in North Carolina — ranking sixth fastest nationally with a 4.7% population growth rate from 2024 to 2025, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. The county added approximately 33,000 residents between April 2020 and July 2024, reaching a population of roughly 169,000. The broader Wilmington MSA ranked seventh fastest-growing metro in the U.S. with 2.6% growth over the same period. Leland is the county's commercial center of gravity.

The confirmed hospital project alone signals that Novant views the submarket as capable of supporting a full-service acute care campus. A $28.00/SF NNN medical office lease — if verified — would be at the high end of the Leland office market. Current Leland office and medical office asking rents range broadly from $16 to $40/SF/YR based on active listings, with a medical office at Waterford Medical Center listed at $16/SF/YR and general office spaces listed at $27–$30/SF/YR. The aggregate Leland commercial average is approximately $23/SF/YR (ranging $14–$36/SF/YR), though no Class A medical-specific submarket data is publicly available.

The N. Howe St. corridor connects to residential growth nodes including Waterford, Brunswick Forest, and Compass Pointe. A healthcare anchor of this scale would catalyze further medical office and ancillary retail development along the corridor.

What Stands Out

• Rent is at the upper end of market. A reported $28.00/SF NNN falls within the upper range of current Leland office asking rents ($16–$40/SF/YR per active listings), consistent with purpose-built or heavily improved medical space — though no Class A medical-specific submarket benchmarks are publicly available to confirm a precise premium.
• Bridge strategy is telling. Leasing 45,000 SF now for ambulatory use while a $251.3 million hospital won't open until mid-2029 would suggest Novant is racing to establish a presence before competing systems move into Brunswick County.
• Full-building commitment signals credit conviction. A 10-year, full-building NNN lease from an investment-grade health system like Novant would make this asset immediately financeable — likely trading at a 5.5–6.25% cap rate on the private market (estimated; no comparable transaction data available for Leland medical office).
• No public trail is unusual. Neither Novant's newsroom, Brunswick County permits, nor commercial listing platforms show this transaction, which raises questions about deal stage — it may be in LOI or lease execution with delayed public recording, or it may not exist as described.
• Ambulatory surgery aligns with confirmed plans. Novant has separately confirmed ambulatory surgery center construction in the Leland area, which is consistent with the reported use at 1403 N. Howe St.

Market Lens

Demand Signal. Whether or not this specific lease is confirmed, the trajectory is clear: Novant Health is committing over $250 million in capital to Brunswick County, and the system's broader expansion plans reinforce that Leland's medical office submarket is entering a new demand cycle. For developers and landowners along the U.S. 17/74/76 corridor, the investment thesis shifts from speculative residential-adjacent retail to institutional healthcare tenancy — a fundamentally different risk-return profile.

Investors underwriting Leland medical office should benchmark against the verified hospital commitment, not the unconfirmed lease. The CON approval is the hard signal; it locks in 142,460 SF of hospital demand that will require surrounding medical office, pharmacy, lab, and ancillary space.

Risks & Watch-Outs

• Verification gap is material. Until this lease appears in Brunswick County deed/lease records, CoStar, or Novant's official filings, the reported terms should not be used for underwriting or comp purposes. No public records confirm the property owner, tenant, or any lease at this address.
• Construction cost escalation remains a risk for Novant's hospital timeline — the October 2027 start date could slip, which would increase the strategic value of any interim leased space but also extend Novant's pre-stabilization carrying costs.
• Competing supply is emerging. Other health systems watching Brunswick County's rapid population growth may file competing CON applications or pursue ambulatory facilities that could dilute Novant's first-mover advantage.
• Zoning and entitlement status at 1403 N. Howe St. is unknown — medical use (particularly outpatient surgery) may require conditional use permits or special review under Leland's land use ordinance.
• NNN lease structure shifts operating risk to tenant, but buildout costs for surgical suites and imaging (typically estimated at $250–$400/SF) could create significant TI obligations that affect the landlord's net effective return.