Medical Office Gut Check on Conversions

Let’s talk toilets.

Don’t laugh. Yes, potty humor is hilarious, just ask my kids. (Or, honestly, ask me. I’m no better than a 12-year-old.) But this is a serious matter, especially when it comes to converting an office or retail space into a medical office.

This asset class is usually pretty stable and often a safe (and profitable) bet. But before you consider it, have you thought about all the additional flushing that will take place? Medical offices, especially dental offices, require more sinks and toilets than traditional offices. And they’re not only heavily used in patient care but they’re also more likely to undergo rough use from a steady stream of people throughout the day, unlike at a commercial office building, where typically the same people are there all day. And that can really clog up your systems. Literally.

“The number of bathrooms, the amount of flushing and what people flush down toilets—I know it sounds like a small thing, but it ruins building systems that were not built to accommodate that type of traffic,” Malika Peltier of Rethink Healthcare Real Estate said in Associate Editor Matthew Kaufman’s article, “Is an MOB Makeover the Right Remedy for Your Space?”

It’s not something you might first think of. But little (but crucial) details like making sure your office or retail space has the plumbing set up for a medical office are critical for a successful conversion.

And there are all sorts of other elements to consider. Can your wiring handle the extra electricity you’ll need to supply? What about parking?

This is not to say that it’s a bad decision to convert a space to a medical office. Just make sure you understand the differences between an MOB and a traditional office. Find more tips in Kaufman’s article.

It’s worth the read! It certainly beats realizing halfway through that you have an issue—and seeing all your plans flushed down the drain.

Read the October 2026 issue of CPE.