So Kuskin bought the land on West Burbank Boulevard, gave the tenants their notice to vacate and tore down the apartment complex, erecting in its place a small parking lot and two medical buildings.
In two years, Kuskin went from not having a place to practice to being a landlord and said that Burbank was a great place to do it.
Over the past 25 years he has run his private physical therapy practice in several cities in Los Angeles County, including North Hollywood and Canoga Park, but has stayed in Burbank the longest and plans to make it his final home.
“It’s a good location,” he said. “Not that far from the hospital. The city itself is just a nice city. You feel safe here, and there is a lot of industry.”
Being close to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center has been a boon for business since the new Imperial Physical Therapy center opened in May, he said.
“We’ve built up a relationship with doctors that send us patients,” he said. “We have a good name in Burbank.”
France Smiledge of West Hollywood, one of Kuskin’s patients who works in Burbank, has seen the old offices and the new building that houses Imperial Physical Therapy.
“The new offices are brighter and sunnier,” Smiledge said. “I think the other place was maybe a bit bigger, and frankly it was closer to work, but the new offices are brighter, sunnier and really quite pristine.”
She first started her physical therapy for complications from an operation on her elbow in February.
At the end of four months of therapy three times a week, Smiledge said her arm had recovered in a way she and her doctors did not think possible.
“He was very innovative, very thoughtful and always came up with new forms of therapy and things that I could practice at home,” She said. “He was just on it.”
