Comments on: Cost per Square Foot of Commercial Construction by Region

By: Dean Dalvit

Dean Dalvit — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:35:37 +0000

Hi Melissa, Thanks for your inquiry. We actually do not study building maintenance costs as those can vary so greatly from one facility to the next. As a commercial building owner, however, I can recommend the best way to arrive at these costs is to prepare a pro forma for the individual annual costs associated with the building, both actual and expected. There should be dozens of line items including everything from the cost of utilities, trash removal, cleaning, etc. to the cost of insurance, property taxes, etc.. I also include a % for capital improvements that can accrue over time and pay for large, infrequent items like reroofing or repaving a parking lot. Once you have developed all of those costs, then you can forecast future years using a simple inflationary escalation rate. This way, you can develop an operations budget and adjust it at year end to keep it on track.

I hope that helps and good luck with your project!

-Dean

By: Melissa Osburn

Melissa Osburn — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:18:47 +0000

I am looking for building maintenance cost per square foot for a case study on church facilities, do you all track that information too?

By: Dean Dalvit

Dean Dalvit — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:06:04 +0000

Here's a recent question I received by direct e-mail through this post...

Message:
I MAY GET A PROJECT IN NEWARK DELAWARE A 16,000 SQUARE FT BLDING FOR OFFICES ONE STORY ANY IDEA ON HOW MUCH PER SQUARE FT.

While cost per square foot varies by both region as well as local economies, I would expect single story office space in your area to be in the range of $150-$180/square feet, depending on many factors, from design configuration and level of finish to site requirements and availability of local labor. Concrete block warehouse-type office space on an open lot will be considerably less expensive, while specialty construction with tight site constraints could be more.

RSMeans provides the general index for construction costs to be used in developing a starting point for a project budget. However, the actual design will drive actual costs and the budget should be validated at all benchmarks throughout the design process. A line item budget would be developed as soon as schematic architectural drawings are developed.

If you would like to discuss the project in more detail, we can provide full scope architectural and engineering design services in your region, and would be happy to help at any level from schematic design to permitting and contract administration.

Thank you for your interest in EVstudio,

-Dean

By: Dean Dalvit

Dean Dalvit — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:36:33 +0000

Hello,
Your architect should actually be coordinating the bidding and negotiation on your behalf and aid you in the contractor selection process. You should speak with them about that scope of services as it is actually quite important to have them involved since they are also a party to the construction contract and cary numerous roles and responsibilities throughout construction all the way to the very end. If you have not yet selected an architect or started design for your project, please let me know and we would be happy to provide services in your location. Thanks!

By: iyad sabrah

iyad sabrah — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 03:53:41 +0000

I'd like to find out what is the next step in finding the construction company to do your project. I'm looking for a right company to build an office building or multiple. Would you give me a suggestion where do I start from. Do I call differnet construction companies or is there any construction companies website to look them over for bidding and so on? please any advise will be appreciated. The location is in wichita, ks.

Thanks.

By: Dean Dalvit

Dean Dalvit — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:02:47 +0000

Sunil,

Dean here to address your question. The cost of construction should always exclude the cost of the land, financing costs, and often times most soft costs (entitlement attorneys, appraisers, real estate agents, architects, engineers, surveyors etc.). These variables would not allow us to compare projects on an apples to apples comparison. In addition, other related industries (like the lenders) also need to keep these separate as values for the building and the land have significant implications to the financing and should be looked at separately in all cases.

Residential projects will have a very wide range of construction cost due to the custom nature and the ability to spend much more on significantly less square footage than a large commercial building. The result is that the cost per square foot winds up being very sensitive to things as simple as your cabinetry selection. The low end for very economic single family residential would be in the ballpark of $110 on the low end, but the high end can be extreme. We've seen $400 or more per square foot regularly on luxury vacation homes in Vail and Aspen and I've even seen as high as $1000 per square foot! These are not ordinary residential homes though, as most of us aren't Hollywood stars. For a more realistic high end custom home, you should consider in the ballpark of $180-$220 per square foot.

Because every project is different, you really need to discuss this first when you are programming the project with an architect. We help guide the budget expectations from the very first step in the design, and every subsequent step so that the project meets your budget expectations. If you need any help with this or you would like to discuss your project further, feel free to give us a call. We're happy to help!

By: Sunil

Sunil — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:47:18 +0000

Gene, This cost of construction excludes the value of the land doesn't it? Are construction costs for residential projects a lot more or less?

By: Sean O'Hara

Sean O'Hara — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:59:11 +0000

Steve, did you see this post? http://evstudio.info/2010/01/16/construction-cost-per-square-foot-of-community-centers-in-major-us-cities/

By: Sean O'Hara

Sean O'Hara — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:56:51 +0000

Hi Steve, I'm hoping that you'll be able to get bids from your subs and get a real number if its already designed. We recently did something similar in Colorado. http://evstudio.us/holly-park-community-center-commerce-city-colorado/ This one is about 3,700 sf and the construction cost was about $500K, so that's about $135/sf. Now this is a base levels of finishes and doesn't include furnishings. Hope that helps.

By: Steve Wallace

Steve Wallace — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:31:09 +0000

I am currently specializinig is custom built single family homes- I am trying to branch into the commercial market- I have the opportunity to bid on a church rec center in a small town in Ohio- my fear is not knowing the range of commercial cost per square foot so I can check my bid- the project is a 5375sq' activity center- very simple structure - wood frame- brick wainscoating exterior- metal vertical 26 guage siding- wood siccor truss- asphalt shingles- interior mezanene of 535sq'- bathrooms to accomodate 276 total occupancy- small kitchen with stainless range/ vent hood/ sinks ect. - with this criteria do you have an educated cost per square foot I should be in

much appreciated

Steve Wallace