Construction cost per square foot
I'm looking for helpful insight & opinions. What do you think would be a rough estimate of construction costs per square foot for the following scenario? (I'm interested in construction & build out costs input only - think plumbing/HVAC/structural/electrical/lighting/etc.)
2,000 - 2,500 sqft club (empty retail lease space being converted to topless strip club)
1 bar, approximately 20' long (not sure if doing full liquor or beer only as of yet so ok to consider both)
1 stage, approximately 16'x 3' (runway style)
small, basic DJ booth
simple, basic & minimal lighting & audio set up (1 or 2 decent flat panel tvs; hoping for 4 or 5 speaker system)
basic restrooms
basic dressing room space for girls
small office
NO private rooms or VIP booths (we can artistically separate area in main room with use of furniture/curtains)
NO food or kitchen
Our vision is a simple, clean, relaxed atmosphere - nothing gaudy; we don't want it so dark people trip when walking and we don't want it so loud you can't have a conversation. We're going for more of a "local bar" feel but with the bonus of mostly naked girls who will happily shove their tits in your face.
Thanks in advance for your input! Trying to write budgets and consider truthful/accurate cost amounts is proving to be annoyingly difficult and frustrating when it comes to the construction piece.
2,000 - 2,500 sqft club (empty retail lease space being converted to topless strip club)
1 bar, approximately 20' long (not sure if doing full liquor or beer only as of yet so ok to consider both)
1 stage, approximately 16'x 3' (runway style)
small, basic DJ booth
simple, basic & minimal lighting & audio set up (1 or 2 decent flat panel tvs; hoping for 4 or 5 speaker system)
basic restrooms
basic dressing room space for girls
small office
NO private rooms or VIP booths (we can artistically separate area in main room with use of furniture/curtains)
NO food or kitchen
Our vision is a simple, clean, relaxed atmosphere - nothing gaudy; we don't want it so dark people trip when walking and we don't want it so loud you can't have a conversation. We're going for more of a "local bar" feel but with the bonus of mostly naked girls who will happily shove their tits in your face.
Thanks in advance for your input! Trying to write budgets and consider truthful/accurate cost amounts is proving to be annoyingly difficult and frustrating when it comes to the construction piece.
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See Inno's profile at: https://www.tuscl.net/u.php?UID=214358
His articles: https://www.tuscl.net/u-a.php?UID=214358
stripclubhound.blogspot.com Former manager of SoCal strip club who has a few insights on physical design and lots of opinions on SC operation.
Assume your going topless only bc of laws / liquor licensing. With that understood the Hound said "men come to SCs to see women NUDE not for fancy decor, DJs, sound systems, special effects, of fancy food." They also want opportunity to be up close and personal with the lady of their choice."
If you primarily want to open a "Cheers" type, neighborhood bar with topless dancers, go for it, but don't pretend to be a strip club.
#2-Are you the lessee or the lessor?I can't see putting that kind of money into a building I don't own.
#3-2000-2500 sq. ft. seems a little to small to get a ROI within 10 years.
#4-Having no kitchen up front is a savings,hoods with fire suppression and exchange air are $1700 a linear ft.But your insurance carrier gives discount premiums for a food to alcohol ratio.
#5-Do not venture into this market without a full bar,you limit your customer base right out of the gate.
I've built restaurants and night clubs up and down the eastern seaboard.There are just to many unknown variables in your question to give an accurate answer.But if it is any help I just checked my files and the buildouts cost anywhere from $211 to $463 a sq. ft.Good Luck.
But I betcha a 12 inch x 12 inch house could be built for around $1.99
But you're asking the wrong guys.
We're already well versed in the liquor laws for our area and we know we have local regulations to deal with and have to find a landlord willing to lease to us. Those things have all been considered. We have plans to meet with local builders as well.
Like I said, I was just curious to see who might have had experience building out clubs and what type of costs they ran into. Thanks again.
The description of this club is very similar to one I consulted on the layout and management of and is about to open in South Carolina.
The only thing I can say is that build out costs can vary greatly. The person I dealt with on this club was cash-strapped and wanted to save money by doing work himself and being his own general contractor We went with the low cost choices on materials everywhere, reused as much as possible, and while I don't have all of his cost numbers I believe it was less than twenty dollars a square foot. On the other hand a company is now offering to buy him out, add some adjacent square footage, gut the place, and spend about ten times that per square footage on a high end build-out. On the other hand they will have done in weeks what it took the do-it-yourself owner months to do.
One thing to bear in mind is that 2000-2500 square feet is a very small club. If you look at stipclubproperties.com you will see that you are talking at the very low end of the range of clubs. It looks big when you are staring at an empty space, but it gets small really fast.
Some of the main gotchas you will likely run into on cost are:
Heating/Air Conditioning. If this is currently a retail space it no doubt will have been sized at about one person per hundred square feet. Clubs with tables and chairs are usually sized at one person per fifteen square feet. In addition retail is usually presumed to be nonsmoking, and clubs, depending on local ordinance, may not. That makes a HUGE difference in the quantity of ventilation needed. In fact for somebody building a new club I would recommend making it nonsmoking even if the local ordinances do not prohibit it.
Plumbing. A retail space of this size most likely has one employee toilet, most likely not meeting accessibility requirements. As an assembly occupancy you will need more than one space, some provision that allows separate spaces for each gender, accommodation for handicapped access, and the dancers will most likely be a lot happier not having to share toilet space with customers. The 3000 square foot club needed two customer toilet stalls, a unisex handicapped toilet, and a dancer toilet. you will likely have to be ripping up the slab to get the drain pipes in.
Parking; Your retail store might have needed ten parking spaces to meet the needs of customers and employees. Your club will need a lot more.