Finding the right commercial real estate location is about more than square footage. For healthcare tenants and buyers, the right space can influence workflow, patient access, growth potential, and the ability to serve a community well.
On The Horse’s Mouth: Be Teal with Tom McManus, Dez Merrow, Broker Associate with CARR, brings a client-first perspective to healthcare commercial real estate. CARR is the nation’s leading provider of commercial real estate services for healthcare tenants and buyers, focused on helping people who help people.
Healthcare Commercial Real Estate Starts With Understanding the Client
Dez defines success through the success of clients. As she puts it, “I measure my success by my clients’ success. When they thrive in the spaces and locations I place them in, I know I’ve done my job right.”
That mindset is especially important in healthcare real estate, where a location is not simply a business address. It is often the place where patients receive care, teams collaborate, and providers build long-term relationships with the communities they serve.
Why the Right Location Matters
For healthcare tenants and buyers, real estate decisions can have a lasting impact. A strong location can support day-to-day operations, while the wrong fit can create preventable challenges. Before choosing a space, healthcare professionals should consider how a property supports their business goals, patient needs, and future plans.
Important considerations may include accessibility, layout potential, timing, team coordination, and whether the location can support long-term growth. While every client’s needs are different, the goal remains the same: finding a space that helps the practice operate effectively and serve patients well.
A Team-Based Approach to Opening the Right Office
Commercial real estate is rarely a one-person effort. Dez emphasizes that every client engagement is a team effort, bringing together bankers, architects, contractors, designers, and vendors with a shared goal: opening the office so the client can begin serving patients.
This collaborative approach matters because healthcare spaces often involve multiple moving parts. The real estate decision is connected to financing, design, construction, vendor coordination, and operational timing. When the right professionals align, the process becomes clearer and more focused.
Practical Takeaway for Healthcare Tenants and Buyers
If you are evaluating a commercial real estate decision, think beyond the property itself. Consider the full team involved in bringing the space to life. Ask early questions about timing, buildout needs, professional support, and how each decision affects your ability to open and operate successfully.
Strategy, Preparation, and Negotiation
Dez also draws lessons from martial arts that apply directly to professional negotiation. One of the most valuable lessons she has carried forward is that victory does not always belong to the strongest or biggest competitor. Situational awareness, strategic thinking, and a deep understanding of the other side often matter more.
Those principles shape her approach to negotiation. Rather than relying on force, effective negotiation depends on preparation, adaptability, and insight. In commercial real estate, that can mean understanding the client’s goals, recognizing potential obstacles, and approaching conversations with a clear strategy.
What Business Owners Can Learn From This Approach
Whether you are negotiating a real estate transaction, vendor agreement, or business decision, preparation is essential. Before entering a negotiation, clarify your priorities, understand your options, and consider the other side’s motivations. A thoughtful strategy can create better outcomes than pressure alone.
Positioning Clients for Long-Term Success
When asked about improving performance, Dez points to a strategy rooted in a deep understanding of each client’s business. That understanding helps her position clients for long-term success.
In healthcare commercial real estate, this kind of insight is critical. A space should support more than immediate needs. It should align with how the practice works, how patients access care, and how the business plans to grow. By taking time to understand the client’s business inside and out, real estate guidance becomes more strategic and more useful.
Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Healthcare Space
Healthcare tenants and buyers can benefit from asking thoughtful questions early in the process:
- Does this location support the way our patients access care?
- Can the space accommodate our operational workflow?
- Who needs to be involved before we make a final decision?
- What factors could affect our opening timeline?
- Does this decision support our long-term goals?
These questions can help create a clearer path forward and reduce the risk of choosing a location that does not fully support the business.
CARR’s Focus: Helping People Who Help People
CARR’s work centers on commercial real estate services for healthcare tenants and buyers. Its stated focus is helping people who help people, which reflects the importance of supporting healthcare professionals as they build spaces where care can be delivered effectively.
For providers, practice owners, and healthcare organizations, the right real estate partner can help simplify complex decisions and keep attention on the larger mission: serving patients and building a sustainable practice.
Conclusion
Dez Merrow’s approach to healthcare commercial real estate is grounded in client success, collaboration, and strategic preparation. From coordinating the right team to negotiating with insight, her perspective highlights why real estate decisions should consider both immediate needs and long-term goals.
For healthcare tenants and buyers, choosing the right space is one of the most important business decisions they can make. With the right guidance and a clear strategy, that decision can become a foundation for future success.
To learn more about CARR and its commercial real estate services for healthcare tenants and buyers, visit https://www.carr.us.
