Lodgehollow Funding Group explains, for New Bern, NC restaurants, how to split a renovation into equipment that can secure its own financing and improvements that belong on a term loan, why permits come before the request, what partners may ask restaurants for, and how to keep cash steady while the dining room is torn up.
One Remodel, Two Kinds of Cost
A restaurant remodel bid can mix two very different things. Some of it is equipment: a new hood, a reach-in line, a dish machine, a bar cooler. Those items have serial numbers and resale value, so they can secure their own equipment loan or lease. The rest is improvement to the space: framing, flooring, plumbing rough-in, electrical, finishes. Improvements cannot be repossessed and resold, so partners fund them on the strength of the restaurant's cash flow, usually with a term loan.
Asking for one lump sum to cover both gives a partner less to work with than a request split by type. Ask your contractor to separate equipment from improvements on the bid.
A Worked Split
Illustrative numbers only: a $140,000 remodel bid includes $46,000 of kitchen equipment and $94,000 of construction and finishes. The equipment goes to an equipment partner, with the items as collateral. The $94,000 is a term-loan request reviewed on the restaurant's statements and sales. Each payment can then be checked against a normal week's card deposits before you commit.
Permits Before Paperwork
Settle zoning and permit questions before you ask for funding, not after. If the remodel adds seats, changes the kitchen layout or expands into the next unit, ask the city whether the work needs review. Remember that a ZIP 28560 address is not necessarily inside New Bern's city limits; only 6.5% of that ZIP's land is, by the Census 2020 relationship file. The zoning and permits guide lists the questions to ask.
Restaurant Loan Requirements for a Remodel
- Six to twelve months of bank and card-processing statements
- Monthly sales reports from the point-of-sale system
- The contractor's bid, split between equipment and improvements
- Vendor quotes listing model numbers and options
- The lease, its remaining term and the landlord's written consent to the work
- A list of existing loans, leases and any merchant cash advances
The lease matters: a partner may want the remaining term to outlast the loan and the landlord's consent in writing.
Keeping Cash Steady During the Work
If the dining room closes for three weeks, sales fall while rent and some wages continue. Plan for that gap separately. Some owners stage the work to stay partly open; others hold back a cash cushion. Taking a merchant cash advance to cover a remodel closure means collections start immediately from reduced sales, so compare the total remitted with other options first.
Restaurant Business Loans After the Remodel
A remodel can change the numbers a partner sees next time: more seats, a bigger menu or a bar that raises average checks. Keep the before-and-after sales reports. They show whether the project paid for itself, and they give a partner a record to review for the next request, whether a second location or new equipment.
Craven County, NC Dining Rooms and Counters in the Census Count
County Business Patterns counted 166 restaurant employer establishments in Craven County in 2023: 74 full-service and 92 limited-service. Forty-nine of them had a ZIP 28560 address (ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023). The restaurant funding page covers equipment, second locations and daily cash, and the New Bern, NC data page sets restaurants within the county's business mix. The blog has the other Craven County case notes.
By Lodgehollow Funding Group · Updated