Can I run an office in a retail unit?

Sometimes yes and sometimes no, depending on the unit's designation in the licence and the building's own rules. A unit designated mixed commercial-administrative gives you more room, but that designation has to be written down rather than assumed.

The owner says the unit has traded for years with no problem?

That is not a permit. Plenty of units in Egypt trade on custom until a complaint or an inspection arrives, and at that point the exposure sits with whoever is operating now rather than whoever was there before. Ask for the paperwork.

Before you sign

Permitted use: how to check your activity is actually allowed in the unit

The worst discovery in commercial property is paying, fitting out, and then learning that the activity you came to run is not permitted in the unit.

8 min read·Sep 10, 2026·Togary

"Commercial" is not one label. A unit may be designated retail, administrative, mixed commercial-administrative, or industrial — and that designation is fixed in the building licence and, in a new city, in the allocation contract. The activity you intend to run has to sit inside that designation, not near it.

The questions that matter

What exactly is the unit designated as in the building licence? Ask to see the licence itself.
Is there a valid operating permit for the current activity, or is the unit trading on custom?
For F&B: is there an approved flue and extraction route? This is the single most common thing that stops a restaurant in an unprepared unit.
For industrial or storage: is there an industrial register entry or operating licence, and is the electrical load sufficient?
Do the owners' association or mall management rules bar your activity even where the licence allows it?
In a new city: does the allocation contract permit this activity, or does it need approval for a change of use?

Changing the use

Changing the use is not impossible, but it is a procedure with a timeline, a cost and no guarantee. The common mistake is a seller or landlord saying "it is easy, a week" and a tenant building an opening date on it. If your deal depends on a change of use, make it a written condition in the contract rather than a verbal assurance.

Protecting yourself in the contract

1Name your specific activity in the contract, not "commercial activity" in general
2Include a warranty from the owner that the unit is permitted for that activity
3Where a permit is needed, tie payment or the start of the lease term to it being issued
4Agree in writing who bears the cost of any alteration the authority requires
5Take copies of the licence and permits as part of the deal file, not after signature

At Togary we establish permitted use and licence status before a listing goes live, and we publish those fields on the listing page. What we cannot verify, we do not publish.

Common questions

Can I run an office in a retail unit?: Sometimes yes and sometimes no, depending on the unit's designation in the licence and the building's own rules. A unit designated mixed commercial-administrative gives you more room, but that designation has to be written down rather than assumed.
The owner says the unit has traded for years with no problem?: That is not a permit. Plenty of units in Egypt trade on custom until a complaint or an inspection arrives, and at that point the exposure sits with whoever is operating now rather than whoever was there before. Ask for the paperwork.

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