True cost — by city
Highest in dataset. Manhattan prime corridors $250+/sq ft/yr (SoHo $385, Flatiron $324 in Cushman & Wakefield Q4 2025 via franchise guide); outer boroughs $30-$85/sq ft/yr. Worked Brooklyn example: 1,500 sq ft at $120/sq ft = $15,000/mo, plus 9 months dead rent during build/permits = $135,000. Larksuite total startup $263,000-$1,290,000, monthly $46,700-$125,000.
Higher than national: mid-tier retail TI $150-$245/sq ft (Terrapin July 2026); full-service fit-out $250-$500+/sq ft, $500,000-$1,000,000+ for 2,000 sq ft in Manhattan (LOD Construction); worked build at $300/sq ft. Union labor, DOB expediter, freight/after-hours rules. Second-gen ~$191/sq ft vs shell ~$255/sq ft in NYC 2026 data. Some operators now cite $700 rising to $1,000/sq ft all-in — treated as top-end outlier, not the band.
Overall cost level: higher for a US restaurant opening. The city moves the rent and the build-out; the state moves the permits, the certificates and the liquor clock — and New York City sits in New York.
Start with the state layer: New York permits · New York liquor · New York hub.
Don't read the table — run your verdict. Pick New York, add your format and rent — the regulated lines fill themselves.
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.
Sources: Terrapin Construction Group — TI Cost Per Square Foot 2026; MercatoList — Buy vs Build a Restaurant in NYC 2026; LOD Construction — Retail Fit-Out NYC, 2026-07. Dataset checked October 23, 2026. Where a fee or rule is set by a county or city, this page says so instead of guessing a number.