Searching for Ideal Restaurant Space

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Donna Says: From time to time, I'm going to provide information from other experts who also work with small businesses and their owners. Today, we hear from Gary Becker, a commerical real estate agent with Keller Williams in Raleigh.

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Most retailers ultimately come to the conclusion that the #1 rule of real estate holds true --- location, location, location. If you’re starting up for the first time, however, it may seem difficult to justify the higher rents demanded by the higher-end properties. But these properties often provide a variety of benefits that more than justify their higher costs. Some of these benefits may include higher traffic counts, more parking, better visibility, nicer amenities (landscaping, wider sidewalks, places to sit down) and a wider variety of stores that when taken together offer more of a 1-stop place to shop for the consumer.

Regardless of where you ultimately decide to locate your new restaurant, your next decision should be how to negotiate the best lease terms possible. This can be a challenging task, especially if you aren’t intimately familiar with the details of your specific marketplace and with the various negotiating strategies and tactics available and how these strategies interact with one another. This is where bringing a professional Commercial Real Estate Broker into your team becomes critical.

Your challenge is to pick an astute Commercial Broker with a strong retail specialty. His tools should include a database of available restaurant space in your market and a personal knowledge of the Owners of retail space and the demographic characteristics of various shopping centers. And importantly, in addition to knowing the range of competitive rental rates in your market, your Broker should advise you on how to best take advantage of the many negotiating tactics available, such as Free and Escalating Rent, Tenant Improvement Allowance, Up-Fit Periods, Personal Guarantees, TICAM Increase Limits and others.

As is the norm in real estate transactions, brokerage fees are paid by property owners, so there is no additional cost to the business owner who is looking for space and decides to enlist the aid of a professional Broker. When you are looking for a retail property to lease or purchase, Gary Becker of KW Commercial is available to help.

Gary Becker, Director

KW Commercial

919-882-5663