Introduction
Dr. A wanted to open a pediatric dentist office in Dallas, Texas, so he reached out to Practice Real Estate Group (PRG) to launch his property search. However, as he further considered his long-term goals, he decided to move back home, closer to family in Sacramento, CA.
Dr. A reached out to his agent at PRG to ask if the group would still be able to help him find a location to position him for success. Fortunately, PRG’s Market Analyses are a set of interactive maps — formed by data — that allow the firm and its clients to search a large area and trace through thousands of properties. These analyses can be run from any PRG office and delivered anywhere in the country.
Challenge
Though Dr. A had grown up in Sacramento, he had not worked there. He did not have a specific idea of where in the city he wanted to be or what driving would be like — making it difficult to specify a drive time or consider other quality-of-life indicators. Dr. A only had a general knowledge base about where he thought his target patient might be in the city — and choosing a location to launch his first practice was far too important to make based on assumptions.
Solution
That is when his agent went back to the drawing board to Yuba City — a market that was not captured in the first search. Using the same in-depth market analysis, PRG ran another search and the maps came back with real possibilities.
In addition to a market analysis in Yuba City, PRG ran individual demographics reports on the available spaces to ensure that Dr. A would be in an area that would serve his ideal patient.
Approach
Though Dr. A’s unfamiliarity with the city was a challenge, it also provided an opportunity to make a data-based decision. PRG was able to draw from a large area in their database — from the East Bay to Stockton and up to Sacramento. PRG used their analysis to create interactive heat maps — darker circles meant better competition ratios and higher population density. The report offered more information up front than simply looking at what properties were available. If Dr. A was looking for an answer to, “What area do I target to launch my practice?” these maps provided that answer.
Road Blocks
While the maps pinpointed some submarkets with high population density and good competition ratios, Sacramento was largely saturated. In addition, Dr. A was hoping for a grocery-anchored shopping center — a similar retail situation to where he had worked before — and there were not a lot of those spaces on the market. Dr. A also knew he wanted to work with children whose families would pay with Medicaid. Between finding a part of town that would serve that demographic and hoping for a grocery-centered space in an area that was not already full of dentists, Dr. A felt like he was only hitting dead ends.
Results
Today, Dr. A’s office is open in a great grocery-anchored shopping center in Yuba City. The center is highly visible at an intersection with high traffic counts. It is in the heart of the city — a densely populated part of town — that is very walkable. Dr. A is closer to family and his business is thriving.
Since helping Dr. A launch his business, PRG has closed several more deals across California and developed a medical services network to offer even more support to its West Coast clients.
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