Frequently Asked Questions

Palace serves as the franchise development, real estate execution, and real estate asset advisory department for companies who need support. We help operators plan growth, secure new locations, manage store openings, oversee lease obligations, and provide ongoing real estate guidance. Our job is to help put the strategy in place, coordinate the work, solve problems behind the scenes, and bring you clear recommendations so you can stay focused on running your business.

Palace works with growing franchise brands, multi-unit franchisees, and established companies that need experienced real estate leadership during periods of growth. Some clients rely on Palace as their ongoing real estate department. Others engage us for a specific initiative, expansion program, or strategic advisory project. Our role is to provide experienced leadership where and when it’s needed.

Our Development Strategy services help emerging and growing brands answer the questions that shape successful expansion: Which markets should we enter? Is our prototype ready to scale? Do the unit economics support growth? Is our franchise development program prepared for the next stage?

By answering those questions first, brands can make smarter decisions before committing significant time and capital.

A broker is an important part of the process, but they’re only one part.

Palace works alongside your brokers, architects, contractors, landlords, and vendors to make sure everything moves together. We don’t simply forward information—we review it, organize it, and provide recommendations so you’re making decisions, not sorting through details.

A broker plays an essential role in finding opportunities and negotiating deals. But as brands grow, site selection becomes much bigger than one broker.

You may have different brokers in every market, each sending sites, market insights, demographics, and recommendations in their own format and on their own timeline. Before long, your inbox is full of emails, flyers, and brochures, making it difficult to compare opportunities or see the big picture.

That’s where Palace comes in.

We work alongside your brokers, not instead of them. Every opportunity is reviewed against your site criteria, organized into a consistent decision framework, and supported with clear recommendations before it reaches your desk.

Behind the scenes, we’ve built proprietary AI software that helps us organize opportunities, compare markets, and keep complex development pipelines structured as they grow. The result is less noise, better visibility, and faster, more confident decisions.

A general contractor is responsible for constructing the project. They’re not responsible for coordinating due diligence, landlord approvals, architects, permitting, signage, equipment, IT, furniture, and every other vendor that depends on the construction schedule.

Palace sits above the project, coordinating all of the moving pieces and making sure everyone stays aligned. When schedules change—and they almost always do—we make sure the right people know about it before delays become expensive.

Your accounting team is responsible for paying invoices—not interpreting lease agreements.

Every month, landlords send invoices that may include rent, CAM charges, taxes, management fees, and other costs. Determining whether those charges are correct requires comparing each invoice to the lease, understanding the negotiated business terms, and identifying charges that shouldn’t be there.

That’s where Palace comes in.

We review invoices before they’re paid, question discrepancies, negotiate corrections when necessary, and stay ahead of critical dates like renewals, option windows, and lease expirations. Your accounting team can focus on paying invoices with confidence, while we help make sure you’re paying only what you actually owe.

Yes—many of our clients already have someone leading their real estate efforts.

As brands grow, one internal real estate manager often ends up wearing every hat: coordinating brokers, managing construction, reviewing leases, chasing vendors, answering landlord questions, tracking critical dates, and keeping projects moving. It’s difficult to stay focused on strategy when you’re responsible for executing every detail.

Palace becomes that person’s team.

We take on the day-to-day coordination, follow-up, and execution so your internal real estate leader can spend more time providing direction, making decisions, and managing the program at a strategic level.

We don’t replace existing staff—we complement them. Whether your team needs additional bandwidth, specialized expertise, or ongoing operational support, we integrate into the way you already work and strengthen the resources you already have.

The right time isn’t based on store count, it’s based on the pace and complexity of your growth.

Palace delivers the most value for brands opening multiple locations on a rolling basis, where coordinating brokers, landlords, architects, contractors, vendors, and lease obligations quickly becomes a full-time job.

For many clients, that’s around five or more openings per year. For brands opening ten or more locations annually, Palace often becomes an extension of their team, bringing the structure, visibility, and coordination needed to keep growth moving.

If your real estate responsibilities are starting to pull you away from running the business, it’s probably time to have a conversation.

Absolutely.

You remain in control of every major decision, and money is never spent without your approval. Our role is to do the research, coordinate the moving parts, and resolve as much as possible before bringing an issue to you. You’re involved when your judgment is needed, not every time someone has a question.

Yes.

Palace supports clients across the country by coordinating local brokers, contractors, landlords, and vendors while providing one consistent point of leadership and oversight for your portfolio.

It starts with a conversation.

We’ll learn about your business, where you’re headed, and what’s creating the most pressure today. From there, we’ll discuss whether Palace is the right fit and what working together could look like.