Search And Rescue

QSR magazine:

Manhattan: It’s arguably the world’s most competitive real estate market, and among the most difficult areas to find good restaurant locations.

That’s why newly minted Moe’s Southwest Grill franchisee Donald Lindover chose the site of a former Burger King store to open his 2,000-square-foot, 44-seat restaurant on First Avenue across the street from the Peter Cooper Village, a residential development on the Lower East Side.

“It’s very difficult to find a small location that would be affordable,” says Lindover, a Manhattan-based immigration attorney who searched for more than a year to find a suitable site. He and his wife recently opened the doors of their Mexican-style fast-casual concept.

From the floor up, much of the interior—including tables and chairs that had been drilled and bolted onto cement floors—was gutted to make way for Moe’s colorful interior and cafeteria-style floor plan. Lindover kept the HVAC system and water heater that met with New York City’s stringent building codes.

The final price tag was $750,000, with an estimated $100,000 savings over a new build-out, Lindover says. Equally important was a relatively quick turnaround, just six months, in part because many of the permits required for new construction were not necessary, eliminating inspections from various city departments.