BUSINESS

Urban renewal: When doctors go back to the city

As people return to gentrified and redeveloped downtown neighborhoods, some physicians see a new market developing.

By Mike Norbut, AMNews staff. Feb. 2, 2004.

When it comes to choosing an office setting, the physicians with Family Allergy and Asthma, a practice with 12 locations in and around Louisville, Ky., have never shied away from risk if they saw a potential business opportunity.

About 25 years ago, the doctors chose their first site in a "cow pasture" they hoped would develop, according to James Sublett, MD, an allergy and immunology specialist as well as a founding and managing partner of the practice. The site later became one of the busiest intersections in suburban Louisville.

Last year, the doctors saw another business opportunity that might have seemed risky to other physicians: a satellite office in Louisville's rejuvenated downtown business district.

While most health professionals focus on small portions of suburban market share, the physicians saw the urban area as being light on medical resources and heavy on young professionals who didn't want to take time off for a doctor's appointment. The downtown area offered renovated buildings, new condominiums and entertainment attractions such as restaurants and a new baseball stadium. The physicians wanted to be in the middle of it all.

"If you put a dot in the center of the downtown business district, that's where we are," Dr. Sublett said. "People can walk to our office at lunch."

While many people are still riding the tide out to the suburbs, some cities are making a push for more businesses and residents by reinventing themselves. Whether it's an individual neighborhood in a major metropolis or an entire downtown district in a smaller city, urban areas are constantly showing signs of gentrification and redevelopment.

[...]

Full text of AMNews content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.

Access details

Join the AMA