location - pros/cons of being part of an exisiting condo?

[KookyforCoffee]

Hi All:

Like many others, I am looking for some location advice! Here is a bit of background~

The downtown neightborhood, in the small city where I am planning on opening, is experiencing a revival, lots of people are moving into the area and lots of old warehouses are being renovated into lofts / artists studios. The area has some great restaurants/bars but its not a city that yet has a whole lot of foot traffic - its just starting to turn and is hugely popular with artists/galleries right now. I'm speaking with a developer that just finished a renovation which created 120 apartment/condos. They are starting the next phase of construction which will create another 100 apartments/condos. The first floor of building #2 will be open to retail/commercial spaces, and I am looking at about 1,000 - 1,500 sq ft, of which they would build out for me.

Even with limited neighborhood foot traffic, it seems I have a built in customer base -- 200 lofts may mean 300-400 people, if even half drink coffee with some regularity it seems I've go some good built in regulars.

I guess what I am wonder is, will this be enough? I'm not sure how much other foot traffic I will need. I suppose I need to research traffic flow and the demographic at large, yes?

Anyone in a similar location? Do you love it, regret it?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[crema123]

My personal preference is for locations such as the one you have described. I'm not a big fan of QSR locations and fast food / strip malls. To make things simple for yourself, use the general rule of 10% gross sales for your rent - pick an average ticket price, and make a determination if you can get the number of customers you need to break even. This usually comes out to around 200-250 customers a day.

 

[ElPugDiablo]

Re: location - pros/cons of being part of an exisiting condo

Hi All:
Even with limited neighborhood foot traffic, it seems I have a built in customer base -- 200 lofts may mean 300-400 people, if even half drink coffee with some regularity it seems I've go some good built in regulars.

It all depends on what you mean by regularity. It would be very hard to get 50% of them to come in every day. Where I am, two apartment/condo buildings just finished. Adding about 300 people to the one block radius. When they are fully rented, they will add another 250 people. We also have a large law firm moved in, adding about 200 people. My informal study is we are getting about 10 to 20 additional people a day. There is a Starbucks in the same area, assuming they are twice as busy as I am (they are not), that means 30 to 60 people a day.