| Use | Common minimum | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Office | 1 space / 300 sf | General business; medical is higher |
| Retail / commercial | 1 space / 250 sf | Shopping centers sometimes 1/200 |
| Restaurant | 1 space / 100 sf | Driven by seats and assembly load |
| Medical / dental | 1 space / 200 sf | High visitor turnover |
| Warehouse / industrial | 1 space / 1,000 sf | Low occupancy per area |
| Multifamily residential | 1-2 spaces / unit | Often reduced near transit |
| Single-family | 2 spaces / unit | Usually a garage plus driveway |
Floor area ratio is the ratio of a building's total gross floor area to the area of its lot. A FAR of 1.0 means you may build floor area equal to the lot size, as a single story covering the whole lot, two stories over half of it, and so on. It is the primary control zoning uses to cap building bulk, working alongside height limits, setbacks and lot coverage.
Multiply the lot area by the allowed FAR. A 10,000-square-foot lot with a FAR of 1.5 permits 15,000 square feet of gross floor area. Qué hacemos counts as gross floor area varies by jurisdiction (basements, parking, mechanical space and balconies are sometimes excluded), so always check the local definition before you rely on the number.
Lot coverage is the percentage of the lot covered by the building footprint, a two-dimensional limit on how much ground the building occupies. FAR limits total floor area across all stories. A tall, small-footprint tower can have high FAR and low coverage; a single-story big-box building the reverse. Most sites are constrained by both at once.
Zoning sets a parking ratio by use: commonly one space per 250 to 300 square feet for retail and office, one per 100 for restaurants, and one to two spaces per dwelling unit for housing. Multiply the floor area or unit count by the ratio and round up. Many cities have reduced or eliminated minimums near transit, so confirm the current local code, which changes often.
Density is the number of dwelling units divided by the lot area in acres (lot square feet ÷ 43,560). A 20,000-square-foot lot with 8 units is about 17.4 units per acre. Residential zones cap density this way in addition to, or instead of, FAR, so a project can be limited by unit count even when floor area is available.