Converting medical office building into small offices

Converting medical office building into small offices

Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2015 · 74 posts · 9 votes

I own a 5100 sq ft medical office space with no restrictions near the University of Houston. I have inherited a tenant who has 1450 sq ft for the next 5 years. This area is turning and there are new businesses sprouting everywhere. My current competitor is the guy next door with a similar building which is already built out fully (Texas children' outpatient office used to be here for a decade). My building is 1750 sq ft built out, and the remaining 1850 sq ft is shell space. I am not a stickler for putting in another medical office in this building. I wanted to explore the possibility of creating several small office spaces with a common reception area and CAM. In order to run my numbers right, I wanted to ensure that I count everything. Here is my list of costs. Please critique

1) Insurance: I have a insurance policy for the whole building. Do I need any other kinds of insurance?

2) I currently have a common area parking and access arrangement with my neighbor for the parking lot and landscaping that we share. I plan to pass the cost to my tenants, proportionate to the sq ft of their office spaces (variable per tenant) and the common area (fixed amount of area)

3) Electricity

4) Water

5) Internet

6) Receptionist fee

7) Telephone

8) Conference room maintenance: Do I need to set up a projector? What are the elements that go into a decent conference room?

9) Break room maintenance: How do I decide what to stock and how much?

10) Restrooms maintenance & common area cleaning

11) Is there a way to recoup the initial built out costs that I would have to absorb to make this work? 

12) Since this office space would be in the 3rd ward in Houston, I would appreciate any local input also. 

Thank you. 

0Reply
32 views

Most Popular Reply

Joel OwensBusiness Member
Moderator
Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
9y

Is your end goal to sell the property or hold it for 10 or 20 years? If it is too hold for short term then quality of the tenant matters more for resale cap rate even if rental increases are not as large. If it is to hold then maybe a more mom and pop tenant with higher rental increases per year for maximum cash flow. Tenants should absolutely have their own insurance and some landlords add on to their insurance as additional insured. In all your leases generally the tenant should have recourse against the one property and entity set up only instead of you personally. Have in the lease where tenant is required to give updated ongoing business and personal financials.

Is the daycare operator a franchisee of a large chain like the learning center or mom and pop start up?

I like medical tenants better. When economy gets tough people cut back on daycare but medical people need services to live. Make sure if mom and pop tenant that you DO NOT give blocked rent meaning if 3% annual increases it does not happen with a 15% jump every 5 years of a 10 year lease. Instead it goes up every year so if they go out in year 4 of the 10 year lease you have extracted maximum return. Also get a personal guarantee on the lease as well as the corporate. If they have decent net worth and liquidity then if they want to shut down the business early they will be looking at a settlement with you or you could go after their personal assets if they try to liquidate the remote corporate entity. Generally with the settlement to try and break the lease you are trying to get lost rent for the months before re-renting to another tenant, tenant improvement amounts, and leasing commissions expected. This way for the new tenant you are not out a bunch of money.   

No legal advice given.  

See this reply in the discussion

11 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Flipper · Cupertino, CA · Member since 2015 · 265 posts · 27 votes
    9y

    take a look at Regus. They failed miserable y here cupertino, silicon valley.

    Going away from medical is contrary thinking.

  • Roseville, CA · Member since 2017 · 73 posts · 24 votes
    9y

    Maybe make it a dental office?

  • Full time investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2013 · 405 posts · 312 votes
    9y

    If your neighbor is medical, why not use that to your advantage and attract other medical tenants? Are you a building manager or a CRE investor? Let the tenants dictate what type of amenities they need and let them take the lead on implementing them. A 5100 ft building is not enough to make it a job.

  • Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2015 · 74 posts · 9 votes
    9y

    @Chet Mazur @Ash Patel

    I wouldn't mind getting a medical tenant. There is a big inventory of office space in the area for medical tenants and competition is high among the medical professionals themselves. I have advertised on loopnet so far. Do y'all have other marketing strategies that I can utilize? 

  • Full time investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2013 · 405 posts · 312 votes
    9y

    Bharath, I've had small office buildings and I think its best to do the work yourself.  Advertise with large signs, walk the neighborhood and let people know you are the landlord and are looking for a tenant.  If you are near the university, find a few marketing/RE majors and offer them a nice signing bonus if they find you a tenant.  Offer the same bonus to your existing tenant so they can pick their neighbor.

    With a building that size, I don't know that you need a shared conference room.  

    Is your common area parking arrangement a recorded easement?  If not, that can lead to future problems.

  • Real Estate Broker · Lansing, MI · Member since 2015 · 90 posts · 53 votes
    9y

    In a market like Houston I wouldn't recommend marketing/leasing medical space yourself. I know to typing on hates paying brokerage commissions but a commission will cost less than the extra months being vacant. Working with the right broker will help you get a good medical tenant, if that's the route you would prefer to go. I may be biased because I'm a broker, but they're the ones wor king with companies looking for space. 

    As far as converting to small offices, I think there is a growing demand everywhere for smaller suites. However, I would caution against the Regus model of having a receptionist, or any of those types of added services. I've seen so many of those come and go. If you have to worry about staffing the receptionist desk and worrying about who's calling in sick and if they gave the tenant in 2B the package they signed for you're going from being a landlord to an office manager. I honestly dont believe theres as good of margins in that as just leasing the space. I considered doing the same thing in my building but it just didnt pencil out. If you want to do small offices I would just build out a variety of small spaces between 200sf -600sf and add a 10% common area charge. You can also charge a higher rate psf than with larger spaces. You'll lease those up pretty quickly, and without needing a broker. You'll probably fill it up with just Craigslist. I get more calls every day for tenants looking for a 200 - 500 sf office than anything else. Most brokers aren't going to deal with spaces that size so your tenants will be coming direct anyway. 

  • Houston, TX · Member since 2017 · 89 posts · 59 votes
    9y

    You might consider talking to the University to see if they may want to lease a space. Colleges often have multiple satellite offices. San Jac, for example has a SBA center in Pearland, and the administrative office that handles grants and awards is a few miles from the campus. 

    Here is a link to the community organization working to improve Houston Southeast, which includes Third Ward. http://houstonse.org/

    Here is a link to the official City Of Houston Redevelopment Authority. http://www.houstontx.gov/lara/

    The above websites are run by the people who are planning improvements in the Third Ward the area. They will know what is happening now and what is on the books for the future. Talking to them should yield some win-win scenarios for you and the community.

    The Purple line of the metro rail is going to connect to the University. If I'm not mistaken, I believe the plan is to eventually run a new rail (Blue) through Third Ward, too.

    FYI, in case you didn't know, a few years ago Third Ward Houston was ranked the 15th most dangerous neighborhood in the US on a list compiled by the FBI. Definitely focus on security. Good lighting, cameras, signs emphasizing the presence of cameras, gated entry.....all good ideas.

    Liz

  • Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2015 · 74 posts · 9 votes
    9y

    @Account Closed Thank you for your insights. I had a meeting with the famous pediatrician, after whom the medical complex I am in has been named. He is concerned about his legacy (he is 85), considering his altruistic vision for his community. He was urging me to tenant screen carefully, and adopt some of his ideals. I kind of left with a heavy heart. Do you know who I would need to contact in the university to get somewhere? 

  • Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2015 · 74 posts · 9 votes
    9y

    I am negotiating with a daycare operator about leasing out the remaining space. My insurance agent recommended that I ask the potential tenant to get $1m/$2m worth of good insurance. This tenant wants to use some adjacent green space which I own and fence it in, to create a play yard for children. It seemed okay to me, and my insurance agent didn't consider it as being a big deal. Is there something I need to know about leasing out to a daycare (<5 year old children)?

  • Joel OwensBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
    9y

    Is your end goal to sell the property or hold it for 10 or 20 years? If it is too hold for short term then quality of the tenant matters more for resale cap rate even if rental increases are not as large. If it is to hold then maybe a more mom and pop tenant with higher rental increases per year for maximum cash flow. Tenants should absolutely have their own insurance and some landlords add on to their insurance as additional insured. In all your leases generally the tenant should have recourse against the one property and entity set up only instead of you personally. Have in the lease where tenant is required to give updated ongoing business and personal financials.

    Is the daycare operator a franchisee of a large chain like the learning center or mom and pop start up?

    I like medical tenants better. When economy gets tough people cut back on daycare but medical people need services to live. Make sure if mom and pop tenant that you DO NOT give blocked rent meaning if 3% annual increases it does not happen with a 15% jump every 5 years of a 10 year lease. Instead it goes up every year so if they go out in year 4 of the 10 year lease you have extracted maximum return. Also get a personal guarantee on the lease as well as the corporate. If they have decent net worth and liquidity then if they want to shut down the business early they will be looking at a settlement with you or you could go after their personal assets if they try to liquidate the remote corporate entity. Generally with the settlement to try and break the lease you are trying to get lost rent for the months before re-renting to another tenant, tenant improvement amounts, and leasing commissions expected. This way for the new tenant you are not out a bunch of money.   

    No legal advice given.  

  • Houston, TX · Member since 2017 · 89 posts · 59 votes
    9y

    @Bharath Raj To reach out to a University, I would begin at the "Contact Us" page for the campus you wish to speak to. There are actually two Universities in Third Ward and they're practically on top of each other: U of H and TSU. The U of H website has a convenient "Live Chat" feature on their website. I am sorry, I do not have a direct referral to offer you.

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.