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If you’ve been keeping up with our blog, you know that we’ve been on a lifestyle centers kick the past few weeks. Why are we talking about them so much? Lifestyle centers have become enormously prevalent today, often taking over where malls fell flat. The consumer market is increasingly looking to lifestyle centers for a shop, live, and play experience.

A key factor drawing consumers in at lifestyle centers is great food. According to Crain’s Cleveland Business, consumers are looking for a more diverse selection of places to eat. Where better to get it than a collection of different restaurants in one open-air setting?

When we’re expediting permits for a restaurant within a lifestyle center, there are several crucial factors we encounter contrasting from permitting a standalone restaurant. Bear in mind, we must always conduct a great deal of due diligence to verify any ordinances pertaining to outdoor seating, liquor licenses, noise pollution, pedestrian traffic, and more.

Zoning is an important factor affecting lifestyle center restaurants. Each distinct space within the center will be designated for a specific use-case depending on the allowable floor area.

Typically parking in lifestyle centers will be permitted differently as it will be calculated based on the square footage of the entire center, rather than for each building within the center.

Permitting outdoor patios at lifestyle center restaurants will be approached differently than standalone restaurants too. ADA compliance must be closely considered so that the patio does not block any major walkways.

Finally, plumbing permits will be handled much differently in a lifestyle center restaurant than a standalone. Will the restaurant need a grease interceptor, or can it share with another restaurant nearby?

To sum it all up, restaurant permits within a lifestyle center can be pretty obscure. Permit Advisors understands this; we’ve handled hundreds of lifestyle center restaurant and retail permits in our ten years of business. We know what hurdles will come up and how to navigate them when they do. We can and will take timely permitting obstacles out your hands, allowing you to move on to your other tasks and keep the project on track.

Need help permitting a store within a lifestyle center? Contact us to see how we can help you.

About Us: Permit Advisors Inc is a nationwide permit expediting, entitlement, and consulting firm based out of Beverly Hills, CA. We have established relationships with municipalities nation-wide and implement time as well as cost-saving strategies to efficiently complete projects. We provide a project management team to ensure every aspect of the project is given specific attention while maintaining open communication between the jurisdiction, consultants, and our clients. We serve retailers, architects, landlords, tenant coordinators, contractors, and franchisees nationwide in the hotel, retail, restaurant, mixed-use, multifamily, entertainment, grocery, and logistical plant development industries.