The honest total
Other calculators hand you a blank spreadsheet and ask you to type numbers you cannot know yet. This one asks five things you DO know — and fills the regulated lines from the same dated datasets as the checkers: your permits, your certificates, your liquor path, and the dead rent while it processes.
Build-out $175–$325 per sq ft · equipment $20,000–$60,000.
Build-out $190–$350 per sq ft · equipment $50,000–$120,000.
Build-out $300–$500 per sq ft · equipment $75,000–$150,000.
Build-out $200–$400 per sq ft · equipment $75,000–$150,000.
Build-out $150–$300 per sq ft · equipment $20,000–$75,000.
Highest in dataset. Manhattan prime corridors $250+/sq ft/yr (SoHo $385, Flatiron $324 in Cushman & Wakefield Q4 2025 vi…
Below NYC/LA, above South/Midwest secondary. Larksuite: lease/buy $100,000-$500,000, total startup $263,000-$960,000, mo…
High, neighborhood-variable (Beverly Hills premium vs other corridors). Larksuite: lease/buy $150,000-$600,000, total st…
Lower-cost major metro. Grouped with Dallas/Austin in Texas TI band; deepest subcontractor bench and fastest permit turn…
Wynwood worked example (2026): triple-net in mid-$50s/sq ft, $12,000-$15,000/mo for a storefront, deposits + initial ren…
Among lowest major-metro TI/rent bands. Lease-related startup ~$25,000-$75,000 before construction (Atlanta 2026 guide, …
Lower-cost major metro, grouped with Houston/Austin. South region is most cost-effective nationally (longer construction…
Phoenix metro retail $24-$42/sq ft NNN in general corridors, $45-$85+/sq ft NNN in premium Scottsdale (Old Town, Scottsd…
Premium West Coast market. No city total in the 5-city Larksuite comparison; grouped with Portland in TI data and with L…
Premium Northeast market, grouped with NYC/Philadelphia/DC in Northeast construction region $350-$870/sq ft general cons…
Buying instead of building? Price the existing place with the Buy-vs-Build Checker — and if trucks are the plan, trucks live at FoodTruckCleared.
Included in the $49 Opening Pack: the filled templates, trackers, calendars and worksheets for this door — built from the same dated datasets as the free checker above.