Commercial Tenants & Franchise Operators
Independent operators and franchise owners opening or renovating locations.
Your focus is opening successfully and generating revenue.
If your goal is to open on schedule, protect your investment, and begin generating revenue as quickly as possible, your development and construction teams must focus on these core objectives:
Minimize time to market and reduce costly delays between lease signing and opening.
Protect project budgets by avoiding unnecessary permitting costs, revisions, and delays
Maintain construction readiness through timely permits, approvals, and agency coordination.
Accelerate your opening date to minimize dead rent and start generating revenue.
Permitting Challenges & Bottlenecks
Commercial permitting involves multiple agencies, consultants, franchisees and project stakeholders. Without dedicated coordination and visibility, outstanding requirements and communication gaps can slow the path to opening.
⛔ Challenge 1 — Limited Permitting Expertise & Resources
Whether handled internally or delegated to design professionals and general contractors, permitting often lacks the specialized expertise, dedicated resources, and focused oversight needed to maintain progress.
⛔ Challenge 2 — Escalating Project Costs & Timeline Drift
Different franchisees, architects, and contractors use different permitting resources and approaches, creating inconsistent processes, performance, and approval timelines.
⛔ Challenge 3 — Lack of Transparency & Accountability
When permitting is managed and reported by parties with competing priorities (e.g. design professionals/general contractors), delays and internal bottlenecks can go undisclosed, compromising accountability and project timelines.
Permitting Solutions
Traditional Solutions
Tenant/Operator Handles Permits
❌ Limited permitting experience and expertise.
❌ Reliance on architects, engineers, and contractors for technical information and responses slows permitting progress.
❌ Lack of dedicated, trained permitting personnel to manage submissions, agency coordination, and follow-up.
Architect/Engineer Handles Permits
❌ Permitting competes with design deadlines and other project responsibilities - even with dedicated permitting staff.
❌ Limited dedicated resources for agency coordination, submission tracking, and proactive follow-up.
❌ Delays in design responses and plan revisions can create additional review cycles and push back construction and opening schedules.
General Contractor Handles Permits
❌ Late Project Engagement – GCs often enter after plans are developed, missing critical early due diligence and opportunities to identify permitting obstacles.
❌ Competing priorities priorities divide attention between field operations and permitting responsibilities.
❌ Limited experience navigating additional approvals, including: Zoning and Planning Boards, Conditional or Special Use Permits, Design/Architectural Review Comittees, Historic Preservation, and Change of Use.
The APC Approach
✅ One Dedicated Permitting Partner – Centralized permitting responsibility across projects and locations.
✅ Comprehensive Permitting Expertise – Building permits, zoning, entitlements, and additional agency approvals.
✅ Jurisdiction-Specific Guidance & Training – Educating and guiding design professionals through local filing requirements, agency procedures, and jurisdiction-specific approval processes.
✅ Dedicated Focus & Execution – Proactive submissions, agency coordination, follow-up, and issue resolution.
✅ Independent Oversight & Accountability – Transparent progress reporting, direct accountability, and visibility into permitting activities.
✅ Permitting Timeline Protection – Proactive jurisdiction follow-up, milestone tracking and early intervention to minimize avoidable delays keeps projects moving. We’re your dedicated permit project managers!
✅ Consistent Processes & Reporting – Standardized permitting procedures and reliable project status updates.
Ask us about permits & approvals with
NYC DOB, FDNY, and other city agencies!
Request a Complimentary Consultation
