Many new restaurant tenants make the mistake of not understanding the parking space requirements for restaurants when they begin their search to lease a restaurant.
This often leads to months of lost time and expense when you discover the property does not meet the parking space requirements for restaurants according to governmental parking codes.
What are the Parking Space Requirements for Restaurants in Los Angeles?
The number of parking spaces requirements in Los Angeles typically depends on the type of restaurant (take-out, full-service, fast food) and the size of the leased space.
The parking requirements are stated as a ratio.
For example, a 1,100 square foot full-service restaurant will require 11 parking spaces. (10/1,000 parking ratio).
If you are considering a free-standing building, determining the parking space requirement is straight forward.
If the building is 1,100 square feet and you have 11 or more parking spaces you should have the required parking per city code for your use.
The calculations get more complicated when you’re dealing with a shopping center with multiple uses.
WARNING!
Most landlords and listing brokers will not provide this information and will avoid making any representations about the suitability of the property for your use.
How to Determine Parking Space Requirements
Step 1) Request a rent roll or site plan showing the name of the existing tenants, type of use and square footage for each tenant
Step 2) Using the parking ratios provided by the city determine the required number of spaces for each current use.
For example, a Retail store requires 1 space per 250 square feet. If space is 1,000 square feet divided by 250 and the store requires 4 spaces. (1,000/250= 4)
Add up the total required spaces based on current uses.
Retail Space #1 = 1,000 square feet ( parking spaces required 4)
Retail Space #2= 2,000 square feet ( parking spaces required 8)
Proposed Restaurant Space #3= 1,100 square feet (parking spaces required 11)
Total Parking Required for Shopping Center = 23
Step 3) Count the total number of parking spaces for the shopping center.
Total number of parking spaces provided=25
Step 4) Determine if there is adequate parking based on your required parking and the total number of spaces after subtracting the total number of spaces required based on existing uses.
Parking Spaces Provided = 25
Parking Spaces Required = 23
Excess Spaces= 2
In this situation, the property has adequate parking to meet the parking spaces required for restaurant use.
If there is not enough parking to meet the City of Los Angeles Parking Regulations do not commit to a lease until you determine if there is an exemption or other method to achieve the required parking.
Future articles will address some of the ways to work around parking issues.
If you need help determining how much parking is required for your restaurant please contact me.
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Cheers!
Mark Chase
Restaurant Real Estate Advisors
Hi Mark, I want to built a restaurant on a 3000 sf freestanding building. The first tenant is doing nail and her space is 750 sf, the second tenant is doing tattoo and the space is 750 sf. The remaining is 1500 sf. I want to build my restaurant with the remaining 1500 sf. The building have total of 17 parking spaces. I would like to know is the parking ratio is enough for me to build a restaurant there. The building is in Arcadia, CA. Please let me know. Thank you very much and hope to hear from you soon.
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Hello Mark…
I need your help, I live 2 doors down from a restaurant. The owner has NO ASSIGNED parking for his employees or patrons…doesn’t the city ask owners to provide a plan where their guests,patrons, employees will be parking? Our street has been taken over by 3 different restaurants which also serve liquor so needless to say our cars have been damaged, blocking our driveways and our animals getting hit by speeding driver Side! Please advise…parking enforcement did NOTHING! We have No speed limit signs, no speed bumps and need parking restrictions…please help before someone gets hurts! It’s really gotten out of control!
My address is 4121 Mildred Ave, see for yourself!
Thank you for your valuable time…
Micheline D resident of Mildred
Hello Mark…
I need your help, I live 2 doors down from a restaurant. The owner has NO ASSIGNED parking for his employees or patrons…doesn’t the city ask owners to provide a plan where their guests,patrons, employees will be parking? Our street has been taken over by 3 different restaurants which also serve liquor so needless to say our cars have been damaged, blocking our driveways and our animals getting hit by speeding driver Side! Please advise…parking enforcement did NOTHING! We have No speed limit signs, no speed bumps and need parking restrictions…please help before someone gets hurts! It’s really gotten out of control!
My address is 4121 Mildred Ave, see for yourself!
Thank you for your valuable time…
Micheline D resident of Mildred 424-625-1868
Dear Mark,
I am chair of the Village Committee for the Holmby Westwood Property Owners Association and I have some questions I hope you can help me with. What would be a recommended ratio between number of parking spaces to commercial area for Westwood Village which has multiple tenant types from grocery stores to restaurants? We are a new committee and I am putting some basic facts together to help us understand the issues facing Westwood Village. Thank you for your help.