Find a Dental Office for Rent in Houston

Finding the right dental office for rent in Houston takes research and persistence, but the right location makes a huge difference.

Medical Real Estate Focused Team

Industry Leading Demographics

Hundreds of Successful Clients

So, you’re thinking about space for your practice in Houston – exciting! Navigating the commercial real estate market is a little different than the residential one, so we’ve created this short guide of tips and key pitfalls to avoid while trying to find a dental office for rent in Houston.

Where can you find a dental office for rent?

Commercial Real Estate Agents

Commercial Real Estate Agents use their local market knowledge and relationships alongside databases of properties to find and screen available properties for their clients.

Most commercial real estate agents specialize on either landlord representation or tenant representation. We almost exclusively represent medical tenants, the majority of which are dentists looking to find a dental office for rent.

Hit the Street

Driving areas you are interested in can be a good way to get a feel for what is out there on the market. When trying to find a dental office for rent in Houston, you’ll want to be sure to take note of the existing practices that are nearby.

There are dozens of beautiful and commercially viable neighborhoods in Houston that have the potential to serve as great locations for your dental practice. The downtown area of Houston is the largest business district in the city. The area is home to 9 Fortune 500 companies and includes over 50 million square feet of office space.

About 6 miles west of downtown is the Uptown area – also known as The Galleria Area – which contains over 23.6 million square feet of office space, representing approximately 11% of the total office space in Houston.

The Texas Medical Center is a major neighborhood in the south-central area of Houston that encompasses an area of about 2.1 square miles. This area includes over 60 medical institutions and employs over 106,000 people.

Other top neighborhoods in Houston include Midtown, Greenway Plaza, Westchase, Memorial City, and Greenspoint. In addition, there are a variety of other neighborhoods throughout Houston with the potential to help your practice reach valuable patients.

Keep in mind, if you go to a landlord’s broker directly without representation, the landlord’s broker simply keeps the entire listing fee from the landlord instead of splitting the fee with an independent agent of your choosing.

Some landlords won’t pay a tenant agent (your agent) if you’ve discussed a space in depth with them on your own previously. This can make it tricky to bring in outside representation later.

Online

There are several listing services that are available for free online. They are less comprehensive than the paid databases, and are often less frequently updated. Searching through them is a great way to get a feel for what you like and don’t like in commercial properties, but can be a hard way to find a dental office for rent. Take note of any property features or amenities that strike you as important for your practice.

How much space do you need to lease for your dental office?

Because operatory square footage is fairly fixed, the number of operatories and the size of additional rooms are the primary drivers of the square footage you’ll need to lease for your dental practice.

With space in Houston coming at a premium, it is a good idea to determine an absolute minimum square footage that will adequately accommodate your practice to be used as a baseline once you begin looking at specific properties. There is no need to waste time and effort looking at properties that are otherwise ideal but too small or too large for your needs.

General Dentists

400 – 450 square feet per operatory is a good rule of thumb for a general dentistry practice. Most practices are between 4 and 6 operatories, and are thus are between 1,800 and 3,000 square feet. This rule of thumb includes space for reception and a small private office.

The physical layout of the spaces you consider can make a difference. If the shell of the space is the right shape, 6 operatories can squeeze in to 2,000 square feet, but its rare.

Be careful getting carried away with non-revenue generating space in a practice – only go bigger on reception or team space if it is a central part of your business model.

Pediatric Dentists

Pediatric dental practices can often do an open-bay layout and squeeze an extra chair or two in for the same square footage that a general dentistry practice might lease. However, many just trade that saved space for increased square footage in their reception area.

Will you rent a chair out to an orthodontist? Be sure to plan for private operatories if you’ll need them.

Orthodontics

Like pediatric practices, orthodontic practices often lease larger than normal reception/waiting areas, and aim for 4 or more operatories. Operatories are usually private, as well.

Other Specialties

Periodontics, Orthodontics, Endodontics, and Oral Surgeons often need fewer operatories and can rent smaller spaces for their offices.

What makes a location great for a dental practice in Houston?

For a general dentistry office you want to consider a few key things:

Local competition
Proximity to target customer demographic
Does the space promote the practice adequately (high traffic retail vs office space)
Signage
Adequate parking
No exclusives on dentistry with other tenants

If you’re a specialist, you are likely more concerned with:

Proximity to referral sources
Signage and other “built in” marketing provided by many retail sites may be less important

Ready to find a dental office for rent?

We do the heavy lifting of combing through property databases and running demographics and competition reports for you. We work exclusively with medical clients, so we know how dental practices work and what it takes to be successful. Use the form below to get in touch and we’ll reach out shortly.

Houston Dental Real Estate Demographics

Houston is the most populous city in Texas and the 4th most populous city in the United States with an estimated 2018 population of 2,325,502. The Greater Houston Metropolitan Area includes a population of approximately 6,997,384.

44.8% of Houston’s population is Hispanic.

The median resident age in Houston is 33.0 years old, slightly below the Texas median resident age of 34.5 years old.

Estimated median household income for 2016 in Houston stood at $47,793, below the average for the state of Texas at $56,565.

Dental Real Estate in Houston

Like any major city, commercial space can come at a premium. Costs per square foot can be quite high and occupancies rare in the most competitive neighborhoods. For these reasons it is vital to have a well-rounded understanding of the many factors that go into selecting an ideal location for your dental or other medical practice in Houston.

Get the benefits of agent representation at no cost to you

A commercial real estate agent specializing in medical leasing can help you to consider all of your options and select the perfect location that both fits within your budget and satisfies all of your business needs.

Best of all, commercial landlords typically pay the entire agent fee when finalizing an agreement. Why not take advantage of the benefits of enlisting qualified professional agents that will help you to get the best deal on the right property.

Ways to offset lease costs in your dental practice

Although the rent for your Houston dental office may seem to take up a large part of your expenses, there are several ways you can help bring those costs down.

Consider renting out an operatory to specialists wishing to do work for patients in your area. Keep non-profit-producing space to a minimum. Efficient scheduling practices can help to eliminate the need for a large waiting space. Or, consider whether a similar but less expensive neighborhood would be a better deal for the bottom line.

Lease costs for healthcare real estate in Houston can be expensive, but there are enormous opportunities for great dentists who start their practices off right with the perfect location.

Houston has a strong Dental Community.

Here are some useful links and groups to help you get started: