How does franchise site selection work with BreakThru Realty?

BreakThru Realty starts from the franchisor’s site criteria and prototype, searches inline, endcap, pad, second-generation and freestanding space in the franchisee’s territory, analyses the trade area, checks zoning and approvals, and presents the sites that fit as approval packages in the franchisor’s own format.

Does the franchisor have to approve a franchise location?

In almost every franchise system, yes: the franchise agreement requires the franchisor’s approval of the site before a lease or purchase is signed, and the site must sit within the franchisee’s territory as Item 12 of the disclosure document describes. BreakThru Realty prepares the site package; the approval decision is the franchisor’s.

Can BreakThru Realty find land or pad sites for ground-up franchise units?

Yes. BreakThru Realty represents franchisees and franchisors on ground leases, build-to-suit leases and land purchases, and coordinates the due diligence each needs within the inspection period: survey, title, zoning, a Phase I environmental assessment, flood zone, utilities, impact fees and access.

What zoning issues come up most for franchise locations in South Florida?

Drive-thrus, outdoor seating, alcohol service, late hours and signage are the most common, because each South Florida municipality has its own zoning code and review process. BreakThru Realty checks permitted use and the approvals a site will need before presenting it to the franchisor.

Franchise Site Selection & Real Estate in Florida

Finding, analysing and securing the location for every new unit, from inline space to ground-up pad sites

BreakThru Realty is a licensed Florida real estate brokerage that recruits franchisees for participating franchise brands and represents franchisors and franchisees in the Florida real estate behind each new unit. This page is the location half: how a site is found against the franchisor’s criteria, analysed, checked for zoning and permits, and presented for approval, whether the unit goes into existing space or onto a development site.

BreakThru Realty · Founder and Broker of Record: Tyson E. Sam, Florida License 3565210

Start a Site Search · Development Sites

Starting From the Franchisor’s Site Criteria

Every brand has a prototype and a set of site criteria, and site selection starts there rather than with whatever space happens to be available. Size and frontage, parking ratio, drive-thru stacking, visibility from the main road, signage rights, access from both directions of traffic, co-tenancy, hours, venting and grease trap requirements for food concepts, and the demographic profile of the trade area. BreakThru works to the franchisor’s criteria and sends back only the sites that meet them, with the exceptions flagged rather than hidden.

Trade Area Analysis

A site is judged by the trade area around it as much as by the building. Each candidate site comes with the picture a franchisor’s real estate committee asks for: the households and new construction around it, how the local housing market is moving from BreakThru’s published MLS data, the retail and traffic generators nearby, competing and complementary businesses, the roads and the access, and the other units of the same brand whose territory it must respect. Traffic counts and demographic data are sourced and dated.

Inline, Endcap, Pad and Freestanding

The same brand can open in very different buildings, and each has its own economics and its own negotiation. BreakThru searches all of them in each target trade area and presents them side by side against the prototype.

Inline space in a neighbourhood or community shopping centre
Endcaps, with the visibility and patio or drive-thru potential an end unit brings
Outparcels and pad sites for freestanding and drive-thru units
Second-generation space already built out for a similar use
Mixed-use ground floors in denser urban markets
Freestanding buildings for purchase or lease

Development Sites and Ground-Up Projects

Where a brand builds its own prototype, the site is land, and the deal can take several shapes: a ground lease, a build-to-suit lease with a developer, or a purchase. Each needs due diligence before it is committed to, and BreakThru coordinates it within the contract’s inspection period so that the franchisee or franchisor decides with the facts rather than after closing.

Survey, title commitment and easements
Zoning and permitted use, including any conditional use or site plan approval
Phase I environmental site assessment
Flood zone and elevation
Utility capacity, impact fees and concurrency
Access, curb cuts and cross-access with neighbouring parcels

Zoning, Permits and Local Approvals in South Florida

South Florida has dozens of municipalities, each with its own zoning code, use table, sign code and review process, and a use that is permitted by right in one city can need a public hearing in the next. Drive-thrus, outdoor seating, alcohol, late hours and signage are the usual sticking points. BreakThru checks permitted use and the approvals a site will need before it is presented, so that a site that cannot be permitted in time never reaches the franchisor’s approval committee.

Territory and the Franchisor’s Approval

A franchisee’s site has to sit inside their territory and respect the protected areas of other units, as Item 12 of the disclosure document and the franchise agreement set out, and in almost every system it has to be approved by the franchisor before a lease is signed. BreakThru prepares each shortlisted site as an approval package in the format the franchisor uses: the site, the trade area, the terms, the building, the approvals needed and the exceptions to criteria. The approval decision is the franchisor’s.

Buying Rather Than Leasing

Some franchisees and multi-unit operators would rather own the real estate under their units, or hold it in a separate company and lease it to their operating business. BreakThru represents buyers of retail buildings, pad sites and land as well as tenants, and can present both paths for the same trade area so that the decision is made with both in view. The tax and structuring side of owning the real estate is a question for the franchisee’s accountant.

Start a Site Search

Tell the broker of record about the brand, the Florida markets and the services you need: franchisee recruitment, market entry, site selection or tenant representation.

Broker of record direct: (786) 914-1017 · sales@breakthrurealty.com

How BreakThru Realty Works Within Franchise Law

Franchise seller status	BreakThru Realty acts as a franchise seller only for participating franchisors, only under a written agreement, and is named as a franchise seller on the receipt page (Item 23) of each participating franchisor’s Franchise Disclosure Document.
Disclosure timing	Nothing on this website is an offer to sell a franchise. A franchise is offered only through the franchisor’s current Franchise Disclosure Document, which a prospective franchisee must receive at least 14 calendar days before signing a binding agreement with, or paying any money to, the franchisor or an affiliate. The franchisor delivers the document. BreakThru never shortens that period, and never asks a candidate to sign or pay before it has run.
Earnings claims	BreakThru Realty makes no representation about the sales, income or profit of any franchise. If a franchisor makes financial performance representations, they are in Item 19 of its Franchise Disclosure Document, and that is the only place a candidate should read them.
Florida	Before BreakThru presents a brand, the franchisor confirms in writing that its annual franchise exemption notice under section 559.802, Florida Statutes, is filed with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and current. Florida’s Franchise Act, section 817.416, separately prohibits misrepresentation in the sale of a franchise.
Other states	BreakThru presents opportunities for Florida territories. A candidate who lives in, or wants a territory in, a state that registers franchise offerings or franchise sellers is referred to the franchisor directly.
Compensation	BreakThru Realty is paid by participating franchisors, under a written agreement, when a candidate it introduced signs a franchise agreement; candidates pay BreakThru nothing for matching. Where BreakThru also represents a franchisee in a lease or purchase, both roles and both sources of compensation are disclosed in writing before that engagement is signed, and the franchisee is free to choose other real estate representation.
Independent advice	Legal questions go to a franchise attorney, tax and structuring questions to an accountant, and financing questions to an SBA lender; every candidate should have the first two review the Franchise Disclosure Document and the franchise agreement before signing.

Questions Franchisors Ask

How does franchise site selection work with BreakThru Realty?: BreakThru Realty starts from the franchisor’s site criteria and prototype, searches inline, endcap, pad, second-generation and freestanding space in the franchisee’s territory, analyses the trade area, checks zoning and approvals, and presents the sites that fit as approval packages in the franchisor’s own format.
Does the franchisor have to approve a franchise location?: In almost every franchise system, yes: the franchise agreement requires the franchisor’s approval of the site before a lease or purchase is signed, and the site must sit within the franchisee’s territory as Item 12 of the disclosure document describes. BreakThru Realty prepares the site package; the approval decision is the franchisor’s.
Can BreakThru Realty find land or pad sites for ground-up franchise units?: Yes. BreakThru Realty represents franchisees and franchisors on ground leases, build-to-suit leases and land purchases, and coordinates the due diligence each needs within the inspection period: survey, title, zoning, a Phase I environmental assessment, flood zone, utilities, impact fees and access.
What zoning issues come up most for franchise locations in South Florida?: Drive-thrus, outdoor seating, alcohol service, late hours and signage are the most common, because each South Florida municipality has its own zoning code and review process. BreakThru Realty checks permitted use and the approvals a site will need before presenting it to the franchisor.
Can a franchisee buy the property instead of leasing it?: Yes. BreakThru Realty represents buyers of retail buildings, pad sites and land as well as tenants, and can present both paths for the same trade area. How to hold and structure the real estate is a question for the franchisee’s accountant and attorney.

For Franchisors

For Franchisees

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