Why this matters
Tour spaces without written requirements and you'll fall in love with the wrong one: a charming storefront that's 40% too small or has no parking. A lease is often a multi-year, six-figure commitment; the requirements doc is the cheapest insurance you'll ever write.
What "done" looks like
- A one-page spec: min/max square footage, layout must-haves, utilities
- Parking and access needs quantified, spaces, loading, transit
- A list of beneficial and undesirable neighbors
- Must-haves clearly separated from nice-to-haves
How to do it
- Size the space from your operation, not from listings, work backward from equipment, seating or racks, storage, and staff.
- List layout dealbreakers: ceiling height, ventilation, ADA access, plumbing runs, retrofits are where the expensive surprises live.
- Define how your customer arrives, drive and park, walk by, or destination visit.
- Name good and bad neighbors, complementary draws versus direct competitors or uses that repel your customer.
- Rank everything as must-have, nice-to-have, or unacceptable so you can compare spaces in minutes.
Common mistakes
- Sizing for opening day instead of year two
- Ignoring who controls the customer journey: signage rights, shared entrances, center hours
- Writing the requirements after touring, retrofitted to justify a space you already liked
Real-world examples
- As a historical example, Starbucks used its in-house Atlas GIS platform, built with Esri, to assess demographics, traffic, and nearby businesses during site selection.
- Anchor-tenant positioning is standard retail practice, small tenants deliberately locate near supermarkets and big-box stores to borrow traffic.
From a founder's point of view
A written spec turns location hunting from an emotional decision into a filtering exercise. The document's real job is to protect you from your own excitement inside a nice-looking space, the wrong location is one of the few mistakes you can't iterate your way out of.
Rule of thumb
If you can't reject a beautiful space in 60 seconds by checking it against your sheet, your requirements aren't written yet.
