How to Open a Bakery in Brevard County: The Space Checklist
To open a bakery in Brevard County, start by knowing what you need from the space before you sign the lease.
At Reach Commercial Real Estate, we represent tenants. We help you find locations, compare costs, investigate property questions and negotiate the lease. Reach founder Cassandra Hartford has worked in Brevard County commercial real estate for 17 years and has closed more than 1,500 sales and leases.
This is our guide to the leasing process for a bakery, from your first conversation with us through taking possession and preparing to open.
Quick answer: what the space needs to open a bakery
Zoning that allows your use. In Melbourne's C-1 and C-2 districts, restaurants and retail are both permitted.
A building classification that fits baking. The Florida Building Code lists bakeries in Group F-1.
Enough parking for your employees and floor area.
Drains and exhaust. A grease interceptor on drains that carry grease, and a Type I hood if your cooking produces grease or smoke.
A state food license from FDACS.
Lease terms for the buildout. Ask for a permit contingency, a TI allowance and free rent during the buildout.
1. Bring us these details before we search
Before we send listings, we need to understand your operation. Will you bake on the premises, or sell baked goods made somewhere else? Will you sell at retail, wholesale or both? Which ovens and mixers will you install?
We start with these details from you:
Your menu and food-preparation plans.
Your seating goal, and any drive-thru or pickup area.
Your equipment list, with specifications.
Your busiest hours and expected staffing, including when production starts.
Your preferred areas.
Your opening budget and your monthly occupancy budget.
Your target opening date.
What you will compromise on and what your business needs to function.
You do not need every detail settled. We need enough information to search for your business rather than send every available storefront.
2. Screen bakery spaces before you tour
We map headcount, parking, power and signage before you tour. A listing gives us a starting point, and we ask for the information needed to evaluate the property.
For each candidate, we request the asking rent, CAM or NNN estimates, previous use, parking arrangements, existing equipment, proposed landlord work and the improvement allowance. CAM means common area maintenance.
If a critical answer is missing, we keep the property under investigation. We do not treat an unanswered question as an approval.
3. Tour for how a bakery runs
During a tour, we look beyond the finishes. Where will customers enter, order and wait? Where will delivery drivers collect orders? Where will employees receive supplies, store inventory and take out trash? Where do the ovens and mixers go?
4. Check zoning before signing a bakery lease
A landlord's willingness to lease to a bakery does not replace the local government's review.
Melbourne's use tables (Appendix B, Tables 1A and 1B) list restaurants and retail separately, and both are permitted in the C-1 and C-2 districts. The code defines a restaurant as an establishment where food is prepared on the premises, with a fully equipped kitchen in operating condition. Food and non-alcoholic beverages have to make up at least 51 percent of gross revenue. Retailing does not include restaurants and bars or any industrial use.
Planning and Zoning will check an address to help determine whether a business would be permitted there, according to Melbourne's Starting a New Business Toolkit. If additional approvals are necessary, we bring the expected process and timing into the lease discussion.
See How to Find Out If Your Business Is Allowed in a Melbourne Zoning District. See also How to Get a Zoning Confirmation Letter in Melbourne.
5. Check classification, parking, drains and ventilation for a bakery
Your menu and equipment list should guide the questions.
Building classification: The Florida Building Code, Building, lists bakeries in Group F-1 (section 306.2).
Parking: Melbourne requires one space per employee on the largest working shift plus one per 300 square feet of gross floor area for a retail bakery (Land Development Code, Section 9.72). For 1,500 square feet and 4 employees, that's 9 spaces.
Plumbing: A grease interceptor or automatic grease removal device is required for fixtures with grease-laden waste in food preparation areas, including pot sinks, prerinse sinks and dishwashers without prerinse sinks (Florida Building Code, Plumbing, section 1003.3.1).
Ventilation: Type I hoods are required where cooking appliances produce grease or smoke (Florida Building Code, Mechanical, section 507.2). Provide equipment specifications so your team evaluates hood, exhaust and fire-suppression requirements.
Ask your contractor to compare the existing systems with your equipment and operating needs.
See How to Count the Parking Your Business Needs in Melbourne. See also How to Handle the Grease Interceptor in a Food Space. See also How to Know If You Need a Kitchen Hood.
6. Know what your broker, architect, contractor and attorney each do
Reach handles the search, the cost comparison, the property questions and the business terms of the lease.
Your contractor and design professional evaluate the technical work and cost. In unincorporated Brevard County, the commercial permit application lists construction documents signed and sealed by a Florida registered architect or engineer. Your Florida commercial leasing attorney reviews the legal language and documents.
7. Compare the full cost of each bakery location
We compare more than base rent. Your occupancy review should include base rent, CAM and other charges, scheduled increases, utilities, repairs assigned to you, construction and equipment installation, deposits and rent due before opening.
The comparison should show what you pay to get open and what you pay to stay open.
See How to Read the CAM and NNN Section of a Lease. See also How to Work Out Your Real Monthly Occupancy Cost.
8. Negotiate the lease around your opening plan
Once you select a property, we negotiate the business terms. We focus on:
A permitted use clause that describes your operation and planned activities.
Approval contingencies for zoning, permits, financing and construction feasibility.
Landlord delivery and the tenant improvement allowance.
Rent commencement and construction delays.
Maintenance, additional charges, the personal guaranty and exit terms.
An allowance, rent-free period or other concession only helps when the written terms fit your project.
See How to Ask for Free Rent While You Build Out. See also How to Ask for a Tenant Improvement Allowance. See also How to Add a Permit Contingency to Your Lease.
9. Keep lease dates aligned with the buildout
After signing, your contractor and design team manage plans, permits and construction. We stay focused on the lease dates: possession and delivery, landlord work, allowance submissions, construction deadlines and rent commencement.
Melbourne requires building permits for tenant buildouts. The city's Building Section says commercial permits typically average 14 to 21 working days on a single review.
See How to Find Out How Long a Melbourne Commercial Permit Takes. See also How to Know If You Can Do the Buildout Work Yourself. See also How to Use a Private Provider for Building Permits.
10. Get your FDACS food permit and business tax receipts
DBPR's jurisdiction page says FDACS licenses bakeries. Melbourne's License Requirements for Businesses lists a state license from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for a retail or wholesale bakery.
For an FDACS permit, you check the space against the Food Establishment Minimum Construction Standards, submit documentation of an approved water and sewage (septic) system, and apply 21 days before opening.
If your bakery also cooks food and seats guests, the agencies' pages do not say which agency covers it. Confirm with both before you sign.
Melbourne's business toolkit directs businesses to obtain the city business tax receipt followed by the Brevard County receipt. Your reviewing agencies confirm when you have satisfied their opening requirements.
Extra items to add to your bakery checklist
Add these items to your list before you sign a bakery lease.
Equipment a former cafe left behind. Before assigning value to its sinks, counter and equipment, we ask who owns them, what records exist and whether your team finds them suitable for your operation.
Your own equipment. Section 83.08, Florida Statutes, gives a person to whom rent may be due a lien for the rent on the lessee's property kept on the premises. That lien is superior to any lien acquired after the property was brought onto the premises.
Wastewater survey. You can ask Melbourne's Pretreatment office for its Industrial Pretreatment Program Wastewater Survey to learn whether a business needs a Significant Industrial User Permit.
Drain lines above food storage. If the space is becoming a food-handling establishment, existing sanitary waste lines above food and drink preparation or storage areas have to be panned or otherwise protected, and new drain lines cannot go above them (Existing Building, section 1010.2).
Plan review before you build. FDACS offers a voluntary plan review of an existing building or of conversion, construction or remodeling plans.
Signs and utility work. Melbourne's Building Section lists signage, plumbing, electrical, gas and HVAC work among the work that requires a permit, according to its permit FAQ.
Start your search with Reach
You do not need to find the property before calling us. In most deals the landlord pays our fee.
Call 321-514-0876 with your menu, equipment list, budget, preferred area and target opening date, or with the address of a space you have found.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does FDACS take to schedule a bakery inspection?
After the application and the water and sewer documentation reach FDACS, a field inspector makes contact within three to five business days to schedule an onsite inspection. The onsite inspection is typically conducted within two weeks.
Do I need a certificate of occupancy to open a bakery?
The Florida Building Code says a building cannot be used or occupied, and its use cannot be changed, until the building official has issued a certificate of occupancy (section 111.1).
Sources
Written by Cassandra Hartford, founder and CEO of Reach Commercial Real Estate. She has worked in Brevard County commercial real estate for 17 years, representing buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants across Florida's Space Coast.
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