How to write an expansion brief (standard-premises spec or requirements sheet): template for retail, restaurants and gyms

What a good brief does

A brief de expansión, also called a ficha de requisitos del local (premises requirements sheet), describes your local tipo (standard unit) in one place. The expansion director sends the same document to agents, franchisees and the comité de expansión (expansion committee), so everyone judges candidates against the same list.

A good brief separates must-haves (imprescindible) from nice-to-haves (deseable). Without that split, agents send everything that is roughly right, and the committee debates criteria that should have been settled before the search started.

Every line should be checkable. A criterion works when it can be confirmed from a listing's own words or from measured location data. 'Corner unit with shop window' is checkable. 'A good spot' is not.

• One standard document for agents, franchisees and the committee.
• Each criterion marked must-have or nice-to-have.
• Each criterion checkable from the listing or from measured data.
• Numbers given as ranges or ceilings, not vague adjectives.

The template, section by section

Use these nine headings in this order. Sections 3 to 8 contain the criteria Claro checks; sections 1 and 9 give agents and franchisees the context they need to judge borderline cases.

Rules on what activity is allowed at an address, including smoke outlets and licences, are set by each municipality's ordinances and change over time; rules vary by municipality. A brief records what you need; whether a specific unit qualifies is a question for the town hall or your adviser. This guide is not legal advice.

• 1. Concept and format: what you open, how many seats or members, opening hours. Context for agents rather than a search filter.
• 2. Geography: city or province, districts or commercial axes, and any zones you exclude.
• 3. Type and tenure: retail unit, office or warehouse; for rent, for sale or traspaso (taking over the existing lease and business, usually for a transfer fee).
• 4. Size: an m² range, and whether you mean superficie útil (useful area) or superficie construida (built area).
• 5. Layout, as stated in the listing: a pie de calle (street level), frontage in metres (metros de fachada), escaparate (shop window), corner unit, altura libre (clear ceiling height), diáfano (open plan), step-free access, loading access, air conditioning, condition.
• 6. Installations and permits, as stated in the listing: salida de humos (smoke outlet), food-service licence, uso anterior (previous use). See the smoke outlet guide and the food-service licence guide.
• 7. Budget: renta máxima (rent ceiling per month) and the transfer fee ceiling.
• 8. Location thresholds: people a day within a five-minute walk (weekday or weekend, time of day, and the mix of residents, workers and tourists), residents within 10 minutes on foot and by car, age mix, household income, spending power, and restaurants, cafés, shops, supermarkets and gyms nearby.
• 9. Deal-breakers and flexibility: which criteria end the conversation, and where you would trade size, rent or location.

Plan for 'not stated': listings are often silent

Many listings never mention the criteria a brief cares about. Claro marks these 'not stated' rather than assuming yes or no. A premises whose listing does not mention a corner is not a premises without one; the listing simply does not say.

As of 10 October 2026, among retail premises for rent, a corner unit was stated in 373 Madrid listings and not stated in 3,504; in Barcelona the figures were 506 and 4,331. A shop window was stated in 757 Madrid listings and not stated in 3,110; in Barcelona, 1,341 and 3,491. A smoke outlet was stated in 1,515 Madrid listings and not stated in 2,058; in Barcelona, 1,788 and 2,822.

Decide in the brief what 'not stated' means for each must-have: ask the agent, or drop the unit. Location thresholds behave differently, because footfall and catchment figures come from measured data supplied by a Casafari group company, not from the listing text.

• Corner unit, retail for rent, as of 10 October 2026: Madrid 373 stated, 3,504 not stated; Barcelona 506 stated, 4,331 not stated.
• Shop window, same date: Madrid 757 stated, 3,110 not stated; Barcelona 1,341 stated, 3,491 not stated.
• Smoke outlet, same date: Madrid 1,515 stated, 2,058 not stated; Barcelona 1,788 stated, 2,822 not stated.

Thresholds by format (examples, not benchmarks)

The right thresholds depend on your concept, your existing estate and your own sales data. The examples below show which criteria tend to matter for each format; they are not industry benchmarks, and any numbers you add should come from your own performance data.

Set the thresholds you believe in. Claro reports the exact count of premises that meet them, so you can see whether a threshold is too tight before you send the brief to agents. The footfall guide explains how to read the five-minute-walk figures.

• Coffee: weekday morning footfall with a high share of workers; street level; corner unit with shop window.
• Dinner restaurant: evening and weekend footfall; smoke outlet and food-service licence stated in the listing; previous use as a restaurant.
• Fashion: weekend and afternoon footfall; frontage and shop window; other shops nearby.
• Gym: residents aged 15–29 within 10 minutes on foot and by car; ceiling height; open plan; few gyms nearby.
• Pharmacy or clinic: residents aged 60 and over within 10 minutes; step-free access; street level.

Copy-and-paste templates, by format

Each format has a short version for the search box and a full version for agents and the committee. Every criterion is one Claro checks. The restaurant templates are written in Spanish and the gym templates in Catalan, because Claro reads a brief in any language. All numbers are examples: replace them with your own.

• Coffee shop, short version: Coffee shop in Madrid, street level, 60–120 m², corner unit with shop window, rent under €4,000 a month, at least 20,000 people a day within a five-minute walk, strongest on weekday mornings, mainly workers.
• Coffee shop, full version: City and zones: Madrid, Chamberí and Salamanca. Type and tenure: retail unit for rent or traspaso. Size: 60–120 m² useful area. Layout: street level, frontage of at least 5 m, shop window, corner unit, open plan, step-free access, air conditioning. Installations: previous use as café or restaurant. Budget: rent under €4,000 a month, transfer fee under €60,000. Location: at least 20,000 people a day within a five-minute walk, weekday mornings, mainly workers; household income above the city average; few cafés nearby.
• Dinner restaurant, short version: Restaurante de cenas en Madrid, local a pie de calle, 150–300 m², con salida de humos y licencia de restauración, renta máxima 8.000 €/mes, buena afluencia por la noche y en fin de semana.
• Dinner restaurant, full version: Ciudad y zonas: Madrid, Chamberí y Retiro. Tipo y régimen: local comercial en alquiler o traspaso. Superficie: 150–300 m² útiles. Distribución: pie de calle, fachada mínima de 6 m, escaparate, altura libre mínima de 3 m, accesible sin escalones. Instalaciones: salida de humos, licencia de restauración, uso anterior de restaurante. Presupuesto: renta máxima 8.000 €/mes, traspaso máximo 80.000 €. Ubicación: afluencia a cinco minutos a pie por la noche y en fin de semana; residentes a 10 minutos a pie y en coche; renta de los hogares por encima de la media; restaurantes y cafeterías cerca.
• Gym, short version: Gimnàs a Barcelona, 300–600 m², diàfan, alçada lliure mínima de 3,5 m, renda màxima 9.000 €/mes, molts residents de 15 a 29 anys a 10 minuts a peu i pocs gimnasos a prop.
• Gym, full version: Ciutat i zones: Barcelona, Sant Martí i Sants-Montjuïc. Tipus i règim: local comercial o nau de lloguer. Superfície: 300–600 m² útils. Distribució: diàfan, alçada lliure mínima de 3,5 m, accés sense graons, accés de càrrega, aire condicionat. Pressupost: renda màxima 9.000 €/mes, sense traspàs. Ubicació: residents de 15 a 29 anys a 10 minuts a peu i en cotxe; afluència a cinc minuts a peu els feiners a la tarda; pocs gimnasos a prop.

From brief to shortlist

Paste the short version into the search box, or upload the brief you already use. Claro accepts PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, plain text, CSV, RTF, ODT and photos of a printed page (PNG, JPG, WEBP, HEIC), up to 10 MB, in any language.

Claro first shows the brief as it understood it, as visible criteria, then checks every premises in the agencies' listings Claro holds against each one. Claro searches across Spain by city or province, and a brief that names no place searches the whole country. As of 10 October 2026, Claro held 8,113 retail premises in Madrid (3,879 for rent, 4,234 for sale) and 9,379 in Barcelona (4,838 for rent, 4,541 for sale). Counting commercial properties of all types (premises, offices, warehouses, hotels and others), the figures were 13,437 in Madrid and 12,937 in Barcelona, refreshed nightly. Premises outside Madrid and Barcelona are added every night. Location figures and places nearby are shown for premises across Spain where available; the methodology page explains how the counts are made.

• The brief as understood, shown as criteria you can check line by line.
• Exact counts: how many premises meet every criterion, and how many have some criteria not stated.
• A verdict per criterion (met, not met or not stated) with the evidence quoted from the listing.
• Footfall, residents, age mix, household income, spending power and places nearby for premises across Spain, where available.
• With access: every result, dossiers for the committee, side-by-side comparison of up to five premises marked shortlist, maybe or no.
• Each premises links to the agency's own listing page. The site-selection tools guide compares this approach with others.