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Commercial Real Estate Trends and Healthcare Consolidation with Matt Duchamp of Rigby Slack Lawrence Pepper + Comerford, PLLC 3-18-26
00:13:32
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- [00:00]
A
This is Scott Becker with the Becker Private Equity and the Becker Business podcast. I'm thrilled today to visit with Matt Duchamp. And Matt is a partner at Rigby Slack. He focuses in the commercial real estate area, healthcare and life sciences. A terrific leader, a terrific person. Matt, can you take a moment and tell us a little bit about your background and your career?
- [00:24]
B
Of course. Well, first of all, Scott, thank you so much for having me. I am an avid fan of all of your podcasts, but especially this one. And as you mentioned, I'm a partner at the law firm of Rigby Slack in Austin, Texas. My practice is half focused on commercial real estate and the other half is healthcare and life sciences transactions. And of course, as we'll get into in a minute, there's a fair amount of overlap between those two subspecialties. And I'm a Texas guy through and through. Born in Waco, Texas, went to Texas A and M University for my undergrad and then South Texas College of Law at Houston for law school and then moved to Austin shortly after graduation and have been here ever since.
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A
Now, is, is being an Aggie a Texas A M grad? Is that as, is that the kind of thing like they say about Notre Dame, you can't understand it unless you were actually a Texas A and M Aggie, the culture and the love for the place.
- [01:26]
B
Yes, yes, absolutely. And we, you know, if you have three hours to talk about my love for Texas A and M, specifically Texas A and M athletics, we could do that. But yes, it is, it's unique. I think the comp to South Bend and Notre Dame is very appropriate because
- [01:44]
A
they are very similar, great cultural icons with fantastic cultures. Take a second. You've had the great fortune of working both in this sort of in a private practice of law, but also for a company as a general counsel and talk about how that informs your ability to provide counsel and guidance to clients today. The fact that you actually were in house too, at one point, of course.
- [02:09]
B
Well, as you know, Scott, that's where, that's where you and I met was when I was in house. And you know, it's, it is such an invaluable experience, much like a lot of very formative, valuable experiences in life is that you don't really realize how valuable they are until you are past them or beyond them, whether they be good times or bad times. And so it's been truly remarkable for me to see how much overlap there has been from my in house practice as a chief legal officer and general counsel to now for the past three and a half years, having been back in private practice with my own private clients. Right. And doing what I've been doing at Rigby Slack. It's. My clients come to me with an expectation that they will of course receive exceptional legal advice. But one thing that I hope and feel that they also get from me is the ability to kind of step back, take that 10,000, 30,000 foot view, if you will, and be able to see, you know, what are the short term and long term business risks. What are my operational shortcomings? You know, Matt, you have built an executive team before. How do you feel about my team? Do you feel like we're missing any key pieces? Right. Do we, you know, do we have the right people in the right seats, that sort of thing? And so there's certainly a lot of valuable tools that frankly I'm, I'm sure, I'm sure that I don't even fully, fully utilize them as I move forward in my private practice. But you're right, Scott, I'm very fortunate to have to have worked in both worlds, so to speak.
- [03:40]
A
No, and I love that about your background, your ability to provide counsel and advice. Talk for a second about. Give me a little bit. You work across two big areas amongst commercial real estate as well as in the healthcare sector. Give us a couple trends. You're watching commercial real estate. And then I'm going to ask you to give us a couple trends that you're watching in the healthcare sector too. What are you seeing in commercial real estate is, I mean, for a while office buildings were getting crushed, at least in some parts of the country. Built logistics places, distribution places doing well, residential was doing well. What are you seeing in commercial real estate? Where do you see there?
- [04:17]
B
Sure. So I would say that, you know, there's, there's still a sort of, you know, a stagnation in the general commercial real estate office market. You know, that's when people think commercial real estate, specifically those who aren't in the industry, that's what they think of. Right. Our offices and multifamily. And it's certainly, you know, different around the country depending on what region that you're in. I'll tell you that in Texas and in the greater Southwest, we are seeing almost a boomtown economy for industrial space. I would say probably of the 15 deals that I think I have pending right now, 13 of those are for multi site industrial properties, meaning that the transaction will cover the purchase of more than one industrial property. And so that that subsection of the commercial real estate Industry is very strong. I would also say that new builds for medical offices, medical office complex, hospitals, surgery centers, that sort of happy medium between mixed use retail and healthcare offerings. That's, that's really doing well, specifically in the Houston and Dallas markets, which I also have a lot of clients there as well. And so, yeah, those are two areas that I'm really seeing take off and then at some point they will stabilize. But I think that the future is bright for those two. But I do think, as I mentioned at the beginning, for just traditional out of the box office space, certainly more of a stagnant environment. And I think we'll continue to see that certainly for the next 12 to 24 months.
- [06:03]
A
Thank you. Certainly a really interesting time in real estate and fascinating what you're talking about. The industrial, the logistics, the distribution versus the traditional, what people thought of as commercial real estate, which was the big office buildings. Talk a bit about what you're seeing in healthcare because you also worked in the pain management sector and the healthcare sector. What are you seeing there?
- [06:24]
B
Sure. So what I am seeing still a large degree of consolidation at the physician owned practice level. And what do I mean by that is, you know, whereas seven years ago I could probably count on, you know, two hands, the number of practices that I had that were, you know, currently actively managed by or with a private equity partner, meaning there had been a private equity transaction. Now it is very rare that I work with any healthcare client of any size who does not have some sort of strategic private equity or other financing or lending partner. That trend is not new, but that trend has certainly continued to grow and escalate. Another thing I'm seeing is sort of almost on the flip side of that coin is as younger and younger physicians come into vogue and they become the majority in various healthcare markets, certainly in Austin and certainly in the greater Southwest, we're seeing a lot more physicians come out who frankly are really interested in the benefits and all the pros that come with working for a large hospital system or working for a large surgery center outfit that owns multiple facilities around the state or perhaps even around the country.
- [07:54]
A
When you look at this year, 2026, we're already three months in. Besides the Texas A and M football season next fall. Take a second, Matt. What are you most focused on and excited about as we get into the rest of this year and then to 2026?
- [08:10]
B
Sure, I am really excited, at least in my own practice. I have several large, actually three of each, now that I come to think of it. Commercial real estate deals and Then what I'll call large life sciences transactions. Actually, both of those involve commercial real estate because property will be exchanged when those, when those transactions ultimately take place. Those are, those are in the works now, but they are all slated to close starting July 1st and then rolling all the way into the end of December. So, you know, obviously, very tumultuous time in the economy. Lots of uncertainty, but at least, and of course I say this, thankfully, in the two sectors in which I work, you know, there is a great deal of stability and the future seems to be bright.
- [09:00]
A
Well, fantastic. And Matt, you're having this remarkable career. You're a remarkably good person and leader. What advice would you give to emerging leaders, people trying to build terrific careers?
- [09:12]
B
Well, I'm glad you asked, Scott. So I, you know, I, I have four sons that range in age from 11 to 4, 11, soon to be 5. And one thing that I think they have taught me, that I don't think I realized how much that I actually needed the lesson myself as a young professional, is that there should be no fear of failure, because without failure and refinement, there's no growth. And I think that we get out of school and we have expectations, frankly, that we put on ourselves more than we put on, you know, more than that are foisted on by anyone else. And we think that we've got to be perfect and we think we've got to go 4 for 4 at the plate. Well, if you're 24 years old and you're coming out of law school, you're going to be disappointed. Right. Because you're not going to go 4 for 4 tomorrow night at the plate, and there's going to be learning moments and there's going to be awkward conversations and there's going to be times when you're going to have to ask for help. And my advice to anyone, really, but certainly folks interested in either a legal career similar to mine or to yours or who wants to get involved in commercial real estate or healthcare, is that embrace opportunity and don't fear failure because there is growth and refinement to be had. And you'll wake up one day, 10, 15, 25 years down the road and realize you wouldn't be who you were without those moments of struggle and difficulty.
- [10:38]
A
No. Fantastic. I remember my best baseball game ever. I went four for six, you know, and that was unusual for me. And the concept of every four was, was, was crazy. I literally remember it like was yesterday. It's so unusual for me. I was a guy who played hockey and I Remember every single goal I ever scored because I scored so few of them. That's the only way you remember every single goal. So I love the sports analogy. When you Talk to the 4 to 11 year olds, you know, a generation, you would have said, you know, be an accountant, be a lawyer, be this, be that. How do you guide them professionally or think about how you guide them professionally in such a changing world?
- [11:15]
B
Sure. So it's, it's interesting because we have family members that own very successful, you know, trade based businesses. Right. Plumbers, electricians, H Vac repair, elevator repair. And, you know, those are such tangible but also valuable, you know, professions and trades to learn and it's often difficult to explain, you know. Dad, what do you do at work? Well, I'm a commercial real estate and life sciences lawyer. Okay, what do you do? Right. So career days are difficult. But I would say that the, the advice that I give them, right. Because the world does look different. It's a lot different than what my parents would have told me and certainly what I thought I would be telling my kids, is that there will be opportunities out there. Right. And those opportunities have to be seized. Well, do you just get opportunities? Of course not. You have to be prepared for them. Right. You kind of, you know, you have to build yourself up to that. And how do you do that? Well, you do well in school, you treat people with kindness and respect and you work hard. And if you can do those three things, whatever door you decide to be interested in opening when you're 16, 17, 18 years old, or even beyond, you need to be in a good place to do that. And if you're prepared to do it, then you're going to find success at whatever you choose to do. So, yeah, I do not put a ton of pressure on my kids, of course they're very young comparatively, but also, you know, I want them to do something that they truly find interest and interest in and have a passion for.
- [12:45]
A
Matt, one last thing before we wrap up. Can you do me a favor and just give a quick shout out to your wife and the four boys you know by name, if you don't mind. So at least when they hear this, they know how loved they are. Do you mind doing that?
- [13:00]
B
Of course, I would love to, Scott, and thank you for the opportunity. To my lovely wife, jewel of 15 years and gosh, six weeks, Bobby Lee, Sam Wade. I love you guys. Thank you for your support and I hope you guys listen to the Scott
- [13:17]
A
Becker podcast and more importantly, hope you listen to Matt Duchamp. Matt, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you very much.
- [13:25]
B
Thank you, Scott.
- [13:32]
C
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