New Build, New Challenges: Three Tips for Your New Space from the Ground Up

How to Work With Your Contractor to Make Your New Build Vision a Reality

One of Bill Miller’s many shining skills as the owner of Jeff Rosenthal, DDS, owner of several dental practices across Northeast Ohio, opened his first family dental office in Streetsboro in 2008. For that project — and many more since — he hired WJ Miller Builders as the general contractor.

Naturally, when Dr. Rosenthal decided to expand his Akron Family Dental location’s dental lab, he asked Bill Miller, president of Miller Builders, to serve as the project’s general contractor.

Although technically an addition to the existing structure, Bill still considers Dr. Rosenthal’s latest request a new build. “In addition to the family dental practice, it has a dental lab that services all nine of his locations,” explains Bill. “They needed more space for the latter, so we are basically building onto the existing structure from the ground up.”

Bill explains while a new build includes many of the same planning points as a renovation or expansion, there are some unique challenges to be aware of before embarking on any construction project.

Here are three highlights from “New Office Build: Your Checklist for Success,” the latest in a series of helpful worksheets developed by Miller Builders to help ensure your construction project is successful:

“It’s an old saying because it’s true,” says Bill. According to a Health Facilities Management report, factors that make a location ideal include ease of access (e.g., traffic, public transportation), visibility, minimal competition nearby, and the appeal of the surrounding area.

However, because healthcare facilities have more requirements on top of those already necessary for non-medical buildings, Bill advises his clients to keep these top of mind when touring potential new build sites. “Things like zoning, accessibility, and HIPAA compliance are pretty well known, but not everyone realizes medical offices also require more parking spaces!”

Dr. Rosenthal’s dental lab in the Akron office serves all nine of his Northeast Ohio practices, creating and repairing partials and dentures, as well as mouth and bite guards. When the lab grew from two employees to eight, bench space was at capacity — more space was needed, but where?

“The first thought was to move it to another new location,” says Dr. Rosenthal. “But that would have meant more rent and additional logistics to the courier system that we have in place. Bill recommended adding to the current space with a complete facility dedicated to the lab.”

For any new build, Bill says it’s helpful to have a visual model to understand how the space will be used on the potential site, who will be accessing it, parking availability, and traffic patterns to and within the property.

He explains, “Seeing a mock-up of the whole property for a proposed project helps you notice things you might otherwise miss, such as including room in the parking lot for the snowplow service to make piles without ruining access for patients and their caregivers.”

Throughout the process, Bill provided Dr. Rosenthal with guidance on making educated decisions. The dentist credits his trust in Bill as being the reason why he has given Miller Builders so much return business.

He explains, “Bill and the Miller Builders team are the experts. It is invaluable to work with somebody who has been in the building trade throughout his career. Bill is comfortable with telling me that something I am asking for won’t work, and then explaining in detail why it won’t. That’s the key for me.”

Once Dr. Rosenthal decided to build the dental lab addition onsite, he worked with Bill and the Miller Builders team to plan a design that has the lab’s future needs and growth in mind. They ultimately decided to expand the lab through a buildout, with the workbench space built into the suite.

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For all new builds, Bill keeps the architectural plans within reach to ensure any new regulations are addressed — especially if there’s a transition through an addition to an existing structure. Keeping an eye on the overall concept also eliminates the likelihood for changes and added costs.

It’s also through Miller Builders’ design expertise that savings can be reaped. Case in point: The fact that Miller Builders has its own custom cabinetry shop in-house (led by Mike Miller, the third generation to join the family business) has been a huge selling point for Dr. Rosenthal.

“Like most dentists, we use an X-ray that swings between two rooms,” explains Dr. Rosenthal. “Each unit costs several thousand dollars. We save money by having cabinetry built around the unit so it can be used in both rooms.” He adds that by using Miller Builders, the cabinetry has been redesigned and re-engineered a few times over the years.

“A custom cabinet Miller Builders made for one of our offices 25 years ago may still look fine, but since it was installed, the Miller team developed upgrades and design changes to improve the system. Making these updates is worth it to us in the long run.”

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