Restaurants can often have specific needs when searching for commercial real estate space. Now, a new database has provided the right ingredients to ensure restaurants find just what they need. FoodTenants.com is a specialty database that contains more than 1,000 regional and national restaurant chains as well as emerging food concepts with an interest in expansion. Property information is submitted to the database by landlords. The website is then able to generate a list of prospective tenants seeking similar sites. Through this directory, landlords are able to gain access to tenants' contact information and real estate criteria. In addition, growth opportunities, projected openings, and site criteria is also made available. Users also gain the ability to search properties according to targeted growth markets, by state, company name, and even ideal property size.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PavH0IjOAR8

With access to this type of information, users can be assured of the ability to search for a property that will truly meet their specific needs rather than having to simply make do with a property that only checks a couple of the boxes on their list.

There Is No Free Lunch with FoodTenants

Prospective users who want to get a feel for how the database works can take advantage of a demo version, which provides limited access. In order to benefit from full access, users will need to subscribe to the service at an annual cost of $189. With that subscription costs, subscribers will receive daily email alerts regarding updated and new chains that have been added to the directory. Saved searches can also be downloaded directly to the user's desktop or exported into an Excel document. Although the annual cost of the database might cause some prospective users to hesitate, the cost is actually quite negligible considering the cost and time that could go into finding the right space and/or tenant without access to this type of specialized database.

Will It Be Competitive to Brokers?

In terms of whether FoodTenants has the ability to be competitive to brokers, it is important to note that this same technology, based on direct contact, has been in use by retail brokers for many years. Large multi-state and multi-site owners have been able to speak directly to users spanning multiple states and sites, so that is not a new phenomenon. Where FoodTenants stands out is that it will be delivering this same dynamic to smaller tenants, a segment of the industry that has previously been significantly underserved. This could ultimately make it much easier for small startups to become much more competitive, as they will have the ability to resource properties that are more suited to their specific needs without needing to spend an excessive amount of time in doing so.

Given the unique needs that restaurants and food industry startups often have, particularly in terms of finding the right location with the right combination of space, FoodTenants certainly has the potential to become a major player in the food niche of the commercial real estate industry.