What You Should Know When Leasing Medical Office Space

The needs of healthcare providers for office space obviously differ drastically from normal office spaces, and often have specific needs which are not always shared between practice areas. Some may require access to a lab, others may need clinical services; the list goes on and on. This is why it’s important to keep these tips in mind when searching for the perfect space to grow your practice.
1. Parking – it always shocks us when people forget how important parking is! A good rule of thumb to go by is for every thousand-unit of square footage inside, there should be five parking spaces. In addition, keep in mind that many patients may have difficulty getting out of their cars or need to be dropped off, so make sure parking is convenient!
2. After-Hours Access – the majority of office space leasing agreements will limit business hours to the traditional 8-5 timeframe, but medical practitioners often need to extend their hours to fit the schedules of their patients. Keep this in mind when negotiating with landlords who will bully you into accepting their terms.
3. Exclusive Use Provisions – speaking of negotiations, we highly recommend tenants push to include a clause in their contracts to keep landlords from leasing adjoining office space to competing medical practices. It’s important that the language is very specific, indicating exactly what you consider a competing practice is. After all, we don’t want to keep everyone out; some medical practices can complement and enhance your business!
This is only some of our advice for leasing medical office space. We understand that this is a complicated process which will determine the success of your practice, so don’t hesitate to reach out to us with your questions!