Construction cost per square foot

PM inno123.

You might want to check on the zoning laws in your area, it might not be possible to convert retail space into a strip club.

What Alucard said. Inno123 is our resident architect. He's written several articles on strip club design and construction. Definitely PM him if he doesn't respond to this thread. Duo is also correct.

See Inno's profile at: tuscl.net His articles: tuscl.net

More than you can afford if your are asking questions like that on here.

OP: What others have said: Inno123 for design but also see:

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.

#1-Have your lawyer get over the zoning hump or else your question is moot. #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.

Doesn't the price of land vary a lot over there, that would have a significant bearing on your total price?

I have an idea, it's way out there, but maybe you could call a local builder and ask.

Also, what are the liquor laws like in your area? Where I live you can't serve alcohol without food sales being a certain percentage of the bar's income. It really might be easier to just look for an abandoned Denny's (seen it done) to build up from.

Like Duo commented, I've seen several strip clubs open in former restaurant locations. Even a Spearmint Rhino. It's Santa Barbara, CA location is one example. (It doesn't make for a very good strip club floor plan, though. They tend to be long, narrow buildings. And things like the bathrooms have to stay where they are, which can make for an odd relationship of spaces inside the club.)

I think shadow gave the best answer. Followed closely by dallas.

Duo! Need A partner?

My construction experience is limited to Lincoln Logs.

But I betcha a 12 inch x 12 inch house could be built for around $1.99

Motor! Make sure you use other peoples money.

what TumbleDice said in #1 PLUS whether or not it's allowed in the lease agreement

Nice motor

I'd say Mr. Dice is about right. I would have guessed $200 to $400. $200 if it's just floors, partitions, wiring, normal plumbing, etc. $400 if you've got some heavy-duty construction like staircases, moving bearing walls, breaking up a concrete floor for drains, reinforcing the roof for HVAC, moving the entrance, etc. Lighting, sound, and bar equipment will add quite a bit too.

But you're asking the wrong guys.

It also depends on where you are. New York city is going to probably be much greater than Brunswick, Georgia. And not by just a couple of hundred. Do what dallas said...ask a LOCAL builder.

@tumblingdice - as a matter of fact, yes!

Thanks guys - interesting things to consider. I appreciate your responses.

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.

Thanks for the props, guys.

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.