Restaurateurs Can Tap Into the Adaptive Reuse Movement for Cost Savings and Profitability

It’s a joy to transform a building with great bones into a winning restaurant concept. From a creative and experiential standpoint, the history, architectural features and raw materials add a unique layer to the space, and I’m always excited to take on those projects. Building out a restaurant in, for example, a former printing press gives the space a built-in differentiator. That said, unlike in other hospitality contexts, such as hotels, strictly defined adaptive reuse is difficult to implement for F&B venues. Conversions of current restaurant spaces will likely remain the go-to development strategy where new construction is costly or impractical.

Two major factors make it challenging to create profitable F&B venues through adaptive reuse. The first is how restaurant development budgets are allocated. Savvy buyers look for existing restaurants because minimizing alterations to mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) and maintaining the kitchen layout is a massive cost savings…