A restaurant tenant improvement is the most infrastructure-hungry fit-out in ordinary commercial leasing: it needs an exhaust route to the roof, mechanical and gas capacity, a grease-management path, floor drains, and washroom capacity that many spaces simply don't have — and retrofitting what's missing is where budgets break. The highest-value step happens before the lease is signed: verifying, with a contractor, whether the candidate space can physically and affordably become the restaurant you're planning.
Why Restaurant TIs Are Different
Most commercial fit-outs shape a space; a restaurant fit-out re-plumbs, re-powers, and re-ventilates one. The kitchen's systems — covered in depth in our companion piece on commercial kitchen builds — demand more from the base building than nearly any other ordinary tenancy: dedicated exhaust reaching the roof, make-up air to replace what the hoods remove, grease handling, gas, heavy electrical, refrigeration, and drainage. Whether the building can provide those things, and what it costs to get them where you need them, is decided by the space you choose. That's why the restaurant conversation starts with real estate, not equipment.
First vs Second-Generation Space
The biggest single fork in restaurant TI cost is whether the space has been a restaurant before. Second-generation restaurant space may already have an exhaust shaft, grease infrastructure, floor drains, gas service, and washrooms sized for assembly use — assets that are enormously expensive to add from scratch. But 'was a restaurant' is not a guarantee: existing systems may be at end of life, undersized for your concept, or non-compliant with current requirements, and what the previous tenant removed matters as much as what they left. A first-generation conversion — retail or office becoming a restaurant for the first time — can absolutely work, but it should be priced with eyes open, because the building is being asked to do something it wasn't set up for.
What to Verify Before You Sign
| Space factor | Why it matters | What to verify before signing |
|---|---|---|
| Exhaust route to roof | Kitchen hoods need a duct path from the cookline to the outdoors, typically the roof | Does a shaft or viable route exist? Who approves penetrations — landlord, strata, mall? What does the route pass through? |
| Roof and mechanical capacity | Exhaust fans, make-up air units, and condensers need roof space and structural support | Available capacity and location; landlord rules on rooftop equipment; structural review needs |
| Gas service | Cooklines commonly depend on gas sizing that offices never need | Service size to the building and to the unit; upgrade path and who pays |
| Grease management | Grease interceptors and duct cleaning access are non-negotiable parts of a working kitchen | Existing interceptor or space and drainage path for one; access for maintenance |
| Floor drains and slab | Kitchens, bars, and dish areas need drainage that usually means slab work if absent | What exists; what cutting the slab involves in this building (and below it) |
| Washroom capacity | Requirements scale with seating and use — often a hidden cost when converting retail or office space | Current fixtures versus what your seating plan will require; confirm with the municipality |
| Receiving and waste | Restaurants live on deliveries and waste cycles that offices don't | Loading access, corridor routes, garbage and organics facilities, and any landlord scheduling rules |
| Frontage and patio potential | Doors, glazing, and outdoor seating drive revenue and require approvals | Landlord and municipal processes for signage, entries, and patio use |
The Lease Deal Reads Differently for a Restaurant
Everything in our tenant-improvement series applies double here. The work letter matters more, because the gap between delivery conditions is wider — 'base building' with no exhaust route is a fundamentally different project than second-generation space with one in place. The allowance conversation needs real numbers sooner, because restaurant scope is lumpy: a single missing piece of infrastructure can outweigh the entire finish budget. And the schedule leans harder on approvals and long-lead equipment, with reviews from multiple authorities — municipal permits, health, fire — whose requirements vary by jurisdiction and project, which is why we confirm the specific approval path during planning rather than generalizing here.
Building It Without Killing the Opening
Once the space is right and the deal is signed, restaurant TIs run on the same discipline as any buildout — with the ventilation, gas, and drainage work sequenced early because it lives inside walls, above ceilings, and under slabs. Equipment lead times drive the calendar; inspections gate the milestones; and the last weeks belong to commissioning, health approvals, staff training, and a soft-opening rhythm that deserves space in the schedule. We've delivered this work as tenant improvements across the Lower Mainland, including a Granville Street restaurant build in Vancouver, and the pattern holds: the projects that open on time were won at the lease-negotiation table.
Before You Commit: Restaurant Space Checklist
- Walk the space with a contractor before signing — specifically to trace exhaust, gas, grease, and drainage feasibility
- Establish whether it's genuinely serviceable second-generation space or a first-generation conversion, and price accordingly
- Verify the eight factors in the table above in writing, not by assumption
- Read the work letter against restaurant realities: who provides the shaft, the roof capacity, the gas upgrade?
- Compare the allowance against a scoped estimate for this concept in this space
- Map the approval authorities for your municipality early, and build their timelines into the plan
- Order long-lead kitchen equipment and hoods against the schedule, not after it slips