A wife brings her husband to an ambulatory surgical center for a medical procedure and without having to move her vehicle, goes to a movie and grocery shopping. Patients of a urologist need only walk a few feet to reach a pharmacy, a bank, a post office or a restaurant. Many doctors are starting to locate in shopping centers rather than on a hospital campus. It has worked out well for the majority of the doctors. The convenience is a plus factor, and they get exposure that they would not get in other locations. Occupying this type of space is becoming a more widespread practice among physicians. Landlords say that there is a strong market for doctors and other healthcare providers because they are dependable, recession proof and will likely stay in the space for a long time. Many doctors are also looking for ways to distinguish themselves from others.
More and more physicians are beginning to treat their practices like retail businesses. They do not have to be on the hospital campus anymore. They are locating near areas of population growth. Many times that means following the suburban sprawl. In some suburban locations thousands of new homes in thriving communities have been built. These type of locations are ideal for healthcare providers.
There is also a chance to increase exposure by finding a medical building with a strong tenant mix. Many successful physicians credit retail locations with increasing name recognition. Medical practices in medical office buildings spend money on newspaper advertisements to find new patients. Physicians in shopping centers claim that they have people calling them for appointments because they happened to notice the medical building in the shopping center.
Locating an office in a medical building in a shopping mall costs less than locating the office in a retail space inside the mall. Retail landlords are not willing to cover as many of the build-out expenses for the space. Physicians in medical office buildings however, can expect landlords to cover 50% or more of their build-out costs. In physician offices, build-out costs would be substantially more than for a retail space simply needing to fill open space with merchandise.
The proximity to residences in the nearby area is important, especially where traffic is a concern. The location works best when located near dense suburban populations. The location should be close to where patients live. Most patients prefer to have their physician within 5 miles of their home.
The success of a medical building is a result of the different types of practices and specialties located there. The synergy among the various types of specialties can add value to the practice. There are off-campus buildings that house hospitals as anchor tenants. In addition, some buildings could include an ambulatory care center and a surgery center so that physicians can do as many procedures there as they do in hospitals.
A major demand for medical space has been the shift of medical care from inpatient to outpatient focus. As a result, care at physicians offices and visits to ambulatory and diagnostic/imaging center have increased significantly in recent years generating the demand for office space. Construction trends that focus on a propertys visibility and ease of accessibility are becoming increasingly more popular. Among these are medical offices located in mixed use projects. Going forward, these trends are expected to gain momentum, further leading to the demand for medical office space.
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