Showroom Retail Space in Brea

What to diligence before LOI

1. 01

   Use class: furniture, mattress and home stores fall under Retail sale, general in 20.00.070 (goods not listed under another class, sold and stored inside a building), which Table 20.11.020.A permits by right in C-N, C-C, C-G and C-M. In C-P it is allowed only as an accessory use capped with other accessory uses at 25% of the development's floor area, and in MU-III a 5,000 to 10,000 sq ft store needs a CUP and anything over 10,000 sq ft is not permitted.

2. 02

   No furniture parking discount: Table 20.08.040.D parks Retail sales, general at 1 space per 200 sq ft (5 per 1,000) and does not list a lower ratio for furniture or appliance stores. A 20,000 sq ft showroom needs 100 spaces, so a large freestanding box needs its own parking count before you rely on it.

3. 03

   EV and vehicle showrooms: Automotive, sales and leasing (limited), meaning an indoor showroom or online sales with no more than one vehicle outside for display or test drives and no repair work, is permitted by right in C-G and C-M and parks at 1 space per 250 sq ft. It is not listed as allowed in C-P, C-N or C-C (the Major Shopping Center zone), so check the zone before touring mall or neighborhood center space. Full vehicle sales with outdoor inventory needs a Planning Commission CUP in C-G and C-M and parks at 1 per 400.

4. 04

   Warehouse-format retail: Retail sales, warehouse stores (goods sold in bulk, often from shipping containers, in large industrial-style buildings) are permitted in C-C and C-G but not C-N or C-M, at 1 space per 200 sq ft.

5. 05

   Brea Gateway (Brixmor, 181,819 sq ft) showed suite 203C at 4,550 sq ft and a proposed pad available on September 24, 2026, and Brixmor reports more than 60,000 vehicles per day on Imperial Highway (Kalibrate, 2025). For a small mattress or design showroom that wants to sit beside Mattress Firm, World Market and HomeGoods, that is the vacancy to ask about.

6. 06

   Change of use: under 20.08.040.B.1, moving a building into a use category that needs more stalls requires adding them. If you backfill a former warehouse or office building on Imperial Highway with a showroom, compare the old use's ratio to the 1 per 200 retail ratio first.