While urgent-care centers have been strip-mall staples for decades, the chance to catch dinner, a movie, and a surgical procedure under the same roof is new—and coming soon to a mall near you. The reason is commerce: Mall operators are looking for tenants that trade in entertainment and services to replace the brick-and-mortar retailers slowly being strangled by Amazon.com and its online competitors. Rents, particularly at older malls, are a bargain.
The health-care industry, meanwhile, is moving away from centralized campuses to bring services closer to patients at a time when two key demographics are entering prime years for consumption. Boomers are hitting an age when they can expect to use more health-care services; millennials are starting families and beginning to make doctors appointments for their kids.
Put those factors together, and voila: You can get your blood pressure checked just steps from the steakhouse.
Chris Isola, vice president in the health-care service group for CBRE, says the idea of putting medical clinics in malls is one that landlords are just starting to come around to. “I think from Cedars’ perspective, that’s how you capture the younger demographic,” he explains. “The challenge is convincing the landlord of a highly desirable center that there should be a medical clinic. It’s like, ‘This is why you should put Cedars here and not break up the space for five or six boutiques.’”
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