Retail shells, tenant upfit and renovation. A commercial job is a different animal from a house: the site work, the fire separation between tenancies, accessibility, and a permit path that runs through commercial plan review rather than residential.
Before the finishes
Nobody goes looking for a contractor in the abstract. These are the three things we hear first, and what we do about each of them.
A different submission, different reviewers and a different timeline. Planned into the schedule from the start.
Routes, clearances, restrooms and hardware drawn from the beginning rather than corrected at inspection.
Rated assemblies, penetrations and the inspections that go with them.
Work zoned so the business keeps trading where the space allows it.
Noise, dust and deliveries scheduled around your opening times.
Somebody who answers, and who knows what happened on site yesterday.
Parking counts, stormwater and site access studied before the layout is fixed.
What the service will carry against what the use requires.
A full set, coordinated with the mechanical and electrical design.
Our process
Six stages, in order, with what you get at the end of each one. Nothing here starts until the stage before it is finished and signed off — which is the whole reason the schedule holds.
Existing conditions, zoning, parking counts, stormwater and access. A by-right concept confirms the programme fits under current zoning, so the schedule is a permit schedule rather than an entitlement schedule.
A by-right site concept and a written zoning read.
Tenancy sizes, demising strategy, service entries and where the loading and refuse go. Flexibility for tenants who do not exist yet is designed in now or not at all.
A shell plan with demising and services strategy.
Fire separation between tenancies, egress, accessibility and energy code — designed in, not bolted on after review comes back. Exterior direction developed in parallel.
A coordinated design set and a code analysis.
Structural, civil, and MEP as the project requires, coordinated and stamped. On a steel-framed shell the structural package drives the programme.
A stamped, coordinated set.
Submission, review comments and revisions, carried through to permit. This is a different queue and a different set of reviewers from residential work, and it takes what it takes.
Permit issued, with the review correspondence on file.
Site work, structure, envelope, then shell completion — and tenant upfit as spaces are let, sequenced so early tenants are not living on a construction site.
Certificate of occupancy, per tenancy where applicable.
What’s included
What moves the number
We do not publish prices, because a price quoted before the drawings exist is a number that changes. These are the four things that decide it, so you know what you are choosing between.
Grading, parking, stormwater and utilities frequently cost more than people expect on a commercial site, and are decided at concept.
Steel, tilt-up or conventional framing changes the programme as much as the price.
Fire rating between tenancies and accessibility requirements are not optional and not cheap. They are cheapest when designed in.
Whether spaces are let as cold shell, warm shell or fully fitted changes the shell design itself.
In their words
Robert is a great communicator and we love working with him and his team.
Adam Peter S.They are always professional and strive to provide exemplary customer service.
Shannon L.Common questions
Different code, different reviewers, different queue, and a structural and civil scope a house does not have. The design–build principle is identical — define it fully before building it — but the definition takes longer and involves more consultants.
Yes. Upfit within an existing shell is its own scope, and often its own permit.
It varies by jurisdiction and by submission quality. The one thing that reliably shortens it is a complete, coordinated set going in — most delay is revision cycles, and most revision cycles are avoidable.
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