Before the lease is signed, if at all possible. A designer evaluating the space early can tell you whether the concept fits, what the buildout will realistically cost, and whether the existing plumbing, HVAC, and grease routing support your kitchen — decisions that become expensive to reverse once construction starts. Bringing a designer in after demolition almost always costs more than bringing one in before the lease.

Both. Jastor handles commercial real estate and site selection alongside interior design, so the same team that evaluates a space for operational feasibility is the team that designs it. Most design firms begin after the lease is signed, which means the operator absorbs the risk of a space that was never right for the concept.

Design fees depend on the size of the space, the scope of custom work, and the condition of what you are starting with. A 1,800-square-foot neighborhood concept in a second-generation restaurant space and a ground-up fine dining room are different projects financially. After a site visit we provide a defined scope and fee proposal so you can plan against real numbers rather than a range. The larger cost variables are usually the ones operators underestimate: kitchen equipment, MEP upgrades, grease duct routing, and anything that requires opening a slab.

Design documentation typically runs three to five months for a full-service restaurant. Permitting and construction usually add six to nine months in Miami-Dade, depending on the scope of MEP work and whether the space requires health department review, historic preservation review, or a change of use. A second-generation restaurant space moves faster than a raw shell or a conversion from retail.

We design to those requirements and coordinate the process with the architect of record, the MEP engineer, and the permit expediter. Hospitality work in Miami-Dade and Miami Beach involves health department review, ADA compliance, life safety, and in some districts historic preservation. These constraints shape the plan from the first sketch rather than being solved at the permit counter.

Yes. Repositioning existing venues is a significant part of our work — refreshing a room that has aged, changing the audience a concept speaks to, or rebuilding a brand under new ownership. Because we handle both brand and interiors, a repositioning does not require coordinating a separate agency and design firm around the same reopening date.

Yes. Multi-unit work is where the brand system matters most, because the identity has to hold across rooms with different footprints, ceiling heights, and neighborhoods. We designed Novecento across four Miami locations and developed Match Haus with Parker Hospitality as a concept built for expansion from the start.