ALTA Survey Before Purchasing an Aging Shopping Plaza

Posted on September 18, 2026 by Hollywood Surveyor

Older shopping plazas rarely come with clean paperwork. Decades of tenant turnover, informal parking arrangements and small site changes tend to pile up, and none of it shows up on a title commitment alone. That gap is exactly what an ALTA survey is built to close.

For anyone buying an aging retail center, the survey isn’t a box to check before closing. It’s often the document that reveals whether the deal you’re underwriting matches the property that actually exists on the ground. Shared driveways, undocumented additions and expired easements can all sit quietly until a survey brings them into view.

Before you move forward on an older plaza, here’s what an ALTA survey should confirm and why each piece matters.

Reviewing Shared Access and Reciprocal Easement Areas

An ALTA survey identifies every recorded easement affecting the property, including the reciprocal easement agreements (REAs) common to shopping centers that share access, parking or utility infrastructure with neighboring parcels. This matters most on older plazas, where these agreements were often written decades ago and haven’t been revisited since.

Reciprocal easement agreements typically govern shared driveways, cross-access between adjacent centers, common parking areas and sometimes shared utility lines. The survey shows exactly where these easements fall on the ground, not just what the recorded document describes in legal terms.

In Hollywood and the broader South Florida corridor, older plazas built along major commercial corridors frequently share access points with neighboring retail or mixed-use parcels developed at different times. A survey can reveal whether current site conditions still match what the REA describes, or whether informal changes over the years have drifted from the recorded agreement.

Checking Parking, Loading Areas, and Site Improvements

An ALTA survey documents existing parking counts, loading zones, striping, and other site improvements as they exist today. That information is especially useful for redevelopment planning, because buyers can see whether future expansion, tenant changes, or site reconfiguration may conflict with existing parking and circulation conditions.

Retail leases and local parking ordinances often specify minimum parking ratios. An older plaza may have lost spaces over the years to additions, outparcel development or reconfigured drive aisles, and the survey is what confirms current counts rather than relying on outdated site plans.

Items typically documented in this part of the survey include:

Total striped parking spaces and ADA-compliant spaces
Loading dock and service area locations
Drive aisle widths and fire lane access
Dumpster enclosures, generator pads and other site fixtures

Parking and site improvement requirements can vary by municipality, lease terms and property type, so confirm current zoning requirements with the City of Hollywood or Broward County separately from the survey itself.

Identifying Encroachments Around Older Plaza Improvements

An ALTA survey identifies encroachments, which are structures or improvements that cross a property line or extend into a setback, easement or right-of-way. Older plazas accumulate these more often than new construction, simply because they’ve had more time for small additions and repairs to drift from the original site plan.

Common encroachments on aging retail properties include a canopy or awning extending past the property line, a pylon sign sitting partly in the right-of-way, or a fence installed years ago without a survey to confirm its actual position. None of these show up in a title search, since title work is based on recorded documents rather than physical conditions in the field.

Comparing Title Exceptions With Current Site Conditions

An ALTA survey is used alongside the title commitment to confirm whether recorded exceptions, such as easements, agreements and prior encumbrances, actually match physical conditions on the property. This comparison is one of the main reasons lenders and title companies require the survey on commercial deals.

The title commitment lists what’s recorded. The survey shows what’s real. On an aging plaza, these two documents don’t always agree. An easement listed in the title work might no longer be used, or a physical driveway might exist without a matching recorded easement at all.

Surveyors typically plot each title exception directly onto the survey drawing, allowing buyers and their counsel to see precisely where each item falls relative to the building, parking areas and boundary lines. This step often surfaces questions that wouldn’t come up from reading the title commitment alone.

Using ALTA Survey Findings for Acquisition and Redevelopment Planning

ALTA survey findings inform both the acquisition decision and any redevelopment plans for the property, since the survey shows exactly how much buildable area exists once easements, setbacks and existing improvements are accounted for. This is especially relevant for buyers considering an outparcel addition, facade renovation or partial redevelopment down the line.

An older plaza with a favorable purchase price can still carry real constraints once the survey is complete. A drainage easement running through a proposed expansion area, a shared parking agreement limiting reconfiguration, or a setback that leaves less buildable space than expected can all change the underwriting.

Before finalizing acquisition or redevelopment plans, confirm the following with your survey in hand:

How much of the site sits within easements or setbacks
Whether any REA restricts future site changes
Current zoning compliance for parking, coverage and setbacks
Any encroachments that need resolution before construction begins

Requirements can vary by municipality, zoning district and project scope, so pair the survey findings with a conversation with the local planning department before committing to a redevelopment plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is an ALTA survey required to buy a shopping plaza?

Most lenders and title companies require one for commercial transactions, particularly on income-producing retail properties, though requirements can vary by lender, title company and deal structure. Confirm the requirement early in your due diligence timeline.

How is an ALTA survey different from a standard boundary survey?

An ALTA survey follows a specific national standard and includes items like easements, encroachments, parking counts and zoning information in addition to the boundary itself. A standard boundary survey typically covers property lines and corners without that added scope.

What happens if the survey finds an encroachment?

The buyer, lender and title company review the finding together to decide next steps, which can include a title exception, a resolution with the affected party, or in some cases a physical correction before closing.

Can an ALTA survey affect my financing timeline?

Yes, if the survey reveals issues that need resolution, it can add time to closing. Order the survey early in your due diligence period so any findings have room to be addressed before your financing deadline.

Do I need a new ALTA survey if the seller has one already?

It depends on the age of the existing survey and whether site conditions have changed since it was completed. Many lenders and title companies require a survey dated within a specific window of closing, so confirm current requirements before relying on an older one.

Hollywood
Land Surveying

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