SITE TO DO BUSINESS CASE STUDY
By Nicholas Leider
A POSITIVE PROGNOSIS
A father-and-son partnership found success using Site To Do Business to meet growing demand for medical office space in South Carolina .
A
sign you ’ re doing things right in commercial real estate is repeat business . What better stamp of approval from a client than another opportunity ? For Laurens and Chisolm Nicholson , a father-andson team of CCIM designees in South Carolina , that first step — that first job well done — included discussions about rethinking just went into the ideal location .
A pediatric internal medicine group met with the Nicholsons to find a site for a new facility in Greenville . The clients ’ thinking was pretty straightforward — they had two locations already in operation , so the idea was to place a third roughly in between them . Sounds simple enough .
“ We did the initial analysis for them and laid out all the available sites ,” Chisolm Nicholson says , noting their plan was to own the buildings and lease them to the pediatric group . “ But then I said , ‘ Oh , by the way , that ’ s not where all the doctors are moving .’ We don ’ t want to own in the area at the end of the day , so that was something we had to work out .”
Due to a recent relocation of an area hospital , the Nicholsons moved the target for the new location to try to get as close as possible to the new hospital . A site was selected , building commenced , and now the pediatric medical group operates a bustling facility in close proximity to the hospital campus .
With the next opportunity , the pediatricians came back to the Nicholsons looking to open another location . The CCIMs then
“ Running a needs analysis , we could identify exactly where there was a demand gap . It ’ s a lot easier to take that information to a client and say , ‘ Here ’ s hard data showing this business is needed in the area .’ ” leveraged tools available through Site To Do Business to identify markets with the greatest need for pediatrics .
“ During the needs analysis phase , we were tasked with a lease / own alternative scenario to help the doctors maximize the deployment of capital ,” Chisolm Nicholson says . “ But we had two problems — their existing lease was expiring soon , and the group did not want to pay the holdover penalty or renew .”
With the clock ticking , father and son started crunching the numbers .
“ Running a needs analysis , we could identify exactly where there was a demand gap ,” Chisolm Nicholson says . “ It ’ s a lot easier to take that information to a client and say , ‘ Here ’ s hard data showing this business is needed in the area .’ Identifying that gap in supply almost makes it a no-brainer .”
With decades of experience in the area , the Nicholsons examined the market at a greater depth leveraging the tools available to all CCIMs through Site To Do Business . Eventually , the two identified a former Rite-Aid location in Powdersville , S . C ., that stood out for its existing advantages and future potential .
“ It was in the middle of a high traffic area with a 30,000-plus daily traffic count across from a medical complex , Chick-Fil-A , and Super Walmart ,” Laurens Nicholson says . “ After getting in touch with the owner ’ s broker , we discovered two other parties also had interest in the property , so we needed to act quickly .”
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COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE WINTER 2022