Check the power before you sign a coffee shop lease
If I could get every new coffee shop owner to check one thing before signing a lease, it would be the electrical panel.
Here's why. If the space has a 100-amp panel and you're bringing in an espresso machine that needs 50 amps, you're in trouble. You can't run the air conditioner. You can't add the rest of your equipment. You've just signed up for an electrical upgrade before you can serve a single drink.
Over more than a decade, I've watched a lot of coffee operators get bitten by things they didn't know to check. Most of them show up after the lease is signed, when the landlord says, "Not my problem." Here's what I look at in a space before anyone signs anything.
1. The electrical panel
Your espresso machine is one of the biggest electrical loads behind the bar, but it isn't the only one. Grinders, brewers, ovens, refrigeration, an ice machine and the air conditioning all draw from the same panel.
Here's an example. Say the space has a 200-amp panel and your build-out needs 300 amps. That gap catches people. Now you need a subpanel. Now you're pulling an electrical permit. Now you're bringing in contractors, and a build-out you planned for three months can stretch to six. You're paying rent the whole time.
What to do about it:
Find the panel and read the rating before you get attached to the space.
Make a list of every piece of equipment you plan to run, starting with the espresso machine.
Get the electrical requirements from the spec sheet for each machine. If you're looking at a machine we carry, ask us and we'll send the spec sheet.
Have a licensed electrician confirm whether the panel and wiring can handle the full list.
Choosing your espresso machine and choosing your space are really the same decision. A machine that doesn't fit the power you have means either a different machine or an upgrade with real cost and time attached.
2. Grease interceptor and plumbing
In a lot of the spaces I've looked at recently, a grease interceptor has been required. Plumbing codes change, and a space that was fine for the last tenant might not pass today once you pull permits. Requirements vary by city and county, so ask your local building department and your county's environmental health department what applies to your space and your menu.
Ask whether there's already a grease interceptor. In the example I walked through in my own site feasibility model, the estimated time to open dropped from eight months to five when the space didn't need a new one. That's one scenario in my model, not a rule, but it shows how much this one item can move your timeline.
While you're looking at plumbing, find the floor sinks. Your espresso machine, ice machine and water filtration all need to drain, and your health department sets how far they can be from a floor sink. I wrote about how that moved our espresso machine in another post, "Where to put your espresso machine in a new coffee shop."
If you're only doing coffee and not cooking, you may not need gas service or a hood. Know your menu before you walk the space so you know which of these matter.
3. Older buildings and accessibility upgrades
This is the one nobody sees coming.
The Americans with Disabilities Act became law in 1990, and a lot of older buildings have never been fully brought up to current accessibility standards. If you sign a lease without negotiating who pays for accessibility work, you can end up owning those changes.
Picture it. An old coffee shop was in a space for 20 years. It closes. The landlord leases it out again. You pull permits to get the espresso machine installed the way you want, and the inspector asks when the space was last brought up to accessibility code. Suddenly the toilet needs to move six inches and the bathroom needs to grow by 18 inches. That's massively expensive.
Here's how it works in California. When you remodel a space, you can be required to spend up to 20% of the construction cost on accessibility upgrades to the path of travel: the entrance, the restrooms, the parking and the route between them.
That's close to what happened to us. Our bathroom hadn't been upgraded, and when we pulled permits we had to put money toward accessibility. Because our improvements were small, the accessibility portion was small too. We added the yellow truncated-dome pad out front.
Two things to do:
Ask the landlord whether the space has a CASp inspection report. CASp is California's Certified Access Specialist program. If there's a report, ask for a copy.
Make sure the lease says who pays for accessibility upgrades triggered by your work. If it doesn't say, assume it's you.
4. First generation vs. second generation
A second-generation space has already been a coffee shop or restaurant. That really helps with a build-out, both in money and in time. If it's already set up as a coffee shop, you might not need much more than a new sign on the building side.
But even in a second-generation space, if the previous operator closed, you'll probably still pull a health permit. In the example I walked through in my feasibility model, that alone added about two months to the timeline. Your timeline will depend on your county and your space, but plan for it.
5. What to ask the landlord for
Most first-time coffee operators don't know they can ask for these:
Free rent during the build-out. If your build-out takes five months, five months of free rent is a lot of money you don't burn before you open.
A tenant improvement allowance toward the build-out.
Coffee exclusivity. This should be one of the first questions you ask when you look at a location. If there's already a coffee shop in the same center, find out whether either of you has exclusivity, and get it in your lease if you can.
I've seen people sign a lease and start paying rent the same day. Twelve months later they still don't have a certificate of occupancy. They can't make money yet, and they fail. Don't let that be you.
Where your equipment fits in
Most people choose the space, then the equipment. I'd do it the other way around, or at least at the same time. Know the espresso machine, grinders, brewer, refrigeration and ice machine you want, get their power and drain needs on paper, and take that list with you when you tour. It turns a vague "this place feels right" into a clear yes or no.
Touring spaces in LA, Ventura or Santa Barbara County?
If you're looking at a space and want to know what the equipment you have in mind will need, reach out before you sign. Tell us which machines you're considering and we'll send the spec sheets for the ones we carry, so you know the power, water and drain requirements going in.
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