By Steve Spencer
Running a medical practice is time consuming. Doctors can be so busy with patient care and day-to-day operations that they don’t always have time to think about the future. A successful practice may outstrip its space at some point, and rather than have to look for a larger office on a shortened timeline, forcing hurried decisions, it helps to have a vision and plan for growth.
One physician who has successfully managed this is Corey Hartman, MD, the owner of Skin Wellness. After earning his medical degree from Tulane University, and completing his dermatology residency at the UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine, Hartman spent several years at a large dermatology practice before starting his own in 2009.
With the help of Rich Campbell of Veritas Medical Real Estate Advisors, Hartman decided to lease space in a building on Central Avenue in Homewood that Joe Larussa, MD had bought to open his allergy practice. Hartman started Skin Wellness with four employees and 2,000 feet of clinic space, and within a few years, the practice was bursting at the seams, necessitating the need for more space. In making the original decision, Hartman had done two things than made this transition smoother: he chose to lease, rather than buy so as not to overextend himself when he was just starting out, and because he located in Homewood, one of the most sought after markets in the entire state, it was easy to sub-let his space.
This time, he decided to buy. “I had always wanted to buy my practice property because ownership gives me control and allows me to build equity,” Hartman said. “But I had started with leasing because I had to get my feet wet first. So with Rich’s help, we began looking for properties. Nothing was officially for sale in the area. It never is. You have to decide what you want, and then approach people.
“And because Homewood is such a desirable market, you have to be able to bend a little bit. For example, if you have eight things on your priority list and being in Homewood is one of them, you might have to drop three or four off in order to stay in there.”
Hartman ended up with a 5,000 square feet, over double his original leased space, with his practice as the single tenant. Knowing that this building might not be his last stop, he designed the layout so that it could work for other practice types.
Around this time, he opened a satellite office in Chelsea, leasing space two days a week from an OB/GYN Group. By 2022, the Chelsea space had become too small, and Hartman moved the satellite to the Crossroads development at the corner of Highways 119 and 280. He is a part owner of the Crossroads complex.
“We made the original move to Chelsa because I had a nurse practitioner who lived out there,” Hartman said. “That paid off, but there’s also risk in those type arraignments. For example, we had a PA who wanted to branch out to Tuscaloosa. We had an opportunity to lease a space there, and two weeks before I was going to sign the lease, the PA left for another practice. That was my big reminder that I’m the one who has all the liability with this. If I would have signed that lease, that would have put me in a position where I had to make some tough choices.”
In 2020, Hartman bought a 16,000 square foot building on Independence Drive with excellent visibility. Skin Wellness occupies 11,000 square feet. The rest is leased to several tenants. This gives Hartman control over growth because he can choose to let a tenant’s lease expire if he needs more space in the future. In the meantime, tenants are helping him pay the mortgage.
In choosing whether to buy or lease, and if to buy, deciding on location, space, and price, Hartman looks at it like all the other decisions a physician-owner makes. “When you own a medical practice, even hiring a doctor or buying a device, you always wonder if it’s the right decision,” he said. “But in real estate, I have never looked back and thought that I didn’t make the right decision. I’ve built equity, and been able to better control my fate. It’s always been the right decision and I think it’s always been at the right time.”
