Asphalt Vs Concrete
I'm looking at buying a small commercial property ( it has a 1,000 sq ft house that is zoned commercial) I would have to up date handicap bath and ramp entrance, that's no problem. The town said I would have to have a paved parking lot. They said to figure to devide 200 into the sq footage to come up with the spaces needed, so that's 5. I've never had a parking lot paved, anyone know any costs? Advantages of concrete over asphalt vs cos difference?
You may want to think about what type of business would be going in before you use that "ballpark" average of 5 spaces. You need to think practically or you'll have a property that 's hard to move because of lack of parking. I know of a dance studio, for example, that went with the "average" for their parking lot. Ended up with a lot of ticked off neighbors because they really needed a lot twice as big to handle the class switching traffic of mom's picking up from one class and dropping off for the next. Business's without much client traffic would probably fit in well with that average figure, others won't, especially if it's a business that's going to have a lot of peaks. Keep that in mind before planning the lot.
As for asphalt vs. concrete, that has more to do with climates, although you might be middle of the road. Down here in the south, concrete is the norm (at least in La.). Look at the other lots up and down the street, see if there's a one being used more than the other. If it's pretty even, it's probably a cost issue, get quotes for both, but others might have more to say on this.
Asphalt is cheaper material per square foot but the equipment to install it is more expensive so if its a small job Concretes relatively low equipment cost tends to cause the prices to be more competitive.