What will the buildout cost?
Before you sign a lease or buy a building, know what it takes to make the space work. Pick your use and finish level for a fast, planning-grade construction estimate — then see how much a landlord’s TI allowance really covers.
Planning a buildout? Get real numbers.
Buildout is usually the largest single number in a lease negotiation and the one tenants raise last. Send me the space and the use and I'll tell you what it should cost and how much of it the landlord should carry.
Planning estimate on typical South Florida ranges — not a construction bid. Verify with a licensed general contractor.
Frequently asked
How much does it cost to build out commercial space?
It varies widely by use and finish level. Rough South Florida ranges run about $50–$150/SF for office, $60–$180/SF for retail, $120–$350/SF for medical, and $150–$400/SF for restaurants (kitchens and grease/venting drive that). Warehouse office build-out is lower. These are planning numbers — a GC bid is the real answer.
Does the landlord pay for the buildout?
Often partly. Landlords offer a tenant-improvement (TI) allowance — a set dollar amount per square foot toward your buildout. Anything above it is on you (or gets amortized back into your rent). Estimate your total cost here, then compare it to the allowance with the TI work-letter tool.
What isn’t included in a per-SF buildout number?
Soft costs — permits, architectural and engineering fees, furniture, IT/AV, signage, and contingency — typically add another 15–30% on top of hard construction. Budget for them separately.
The retail space you are pricing was probably built in 1972
Buildout estimates go wrong because people price the finishes and ignore the building. Across the tri-county commercial stock I track, the age gap by asset type is large enough to change the budget on its own.
| Type | Buildings | Median year built | Built before 1990 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail | 16,032 | 1972 | 73.3% |
| Restaurant | 1,526 | 1972 | 71.0% |
| Industrial | 26,204 | 1984 | 63.5% |
| Office | 17,728 | 1984 | 61.4% |
Tri-county commercial parcels with a structure and a recorded year built, August 2026.
A 1972 retail shell is a different construction project from a 1984 warehouse. Electrical service sized for a different era, no grease infrastructure, restrooms that predate current accessibility requirements, and a roof and mechanical plant that are either recently replaced or about to be. None of that appears in a per-square-foot finish estimate, and all of it appears in a contractor's bid.
This is why restaurant and retail buildouts overrun more than office ones. It is not that the finishes cost more — it is that the shell needs more work before the finishes start.
Who pays for what, and why the answer is negotiable
Delivered condition ranges from a finished suite you can move into to a concrete slab with a stubbed-out bathroom, and the words landlords use for it are not standardised. "Vanilla shell," "white box" and "as-is" mean different things in different buildings, and the gap between what you assumed and what arrives is usually five or six figures.
Get the delivery condition written into the lease as a specification, not an adjective. What is the electrical service at the panel. Is HVAC installed and warrantied or just a rooftop unit that exists. Is the restroom compliant today. Is the floor level and sealed. Who holds the permits and who carries the delay if the municipality is slow.
Then the allowance. A tenant improvement allowance is not a gift — it is capital the landlord advances and recovers through rent, so the real question is what you are paying for it and over how long. A large allowance amortised into an above-market rate for ten years is frequently worse than a smaller one with a rate that reflects the market. The TI work letter calculator puts both structures on the same basis.
Where buildout budgets actually break
Permitting time, not permitting cost
The fee is minor. The months are not. In an older building a change of use frequently triggers upgrades the current code requires but the existing structure does not have, and each one is a submittal. Build the timeline into the lease with a rent commencement tied to delivery and permit approval rather than a fixed calendar date.
The things above the ceiling
Electrical capacity, HVAC tonnage, plumbing runs and structural capacity for equipment. These are the expensive discoveries and they are all knowable before you sign. A contractor walking the space for an hour will find most of them, and that hour is far cheaper than an amendment.
Accessibility in a building that predates it
With 73% of tri-county retail stock built before 1990, an accessible route, restroom and entrance frequently need work triggered by your alteration rather than by the landlord's. Whose obligation that is depends on the lease, and it is worth settling in writing before the work letter is signed.
The specialised trades
Grease interception and make-up air for food service. Medical gas, lead shielding and dedicated plumbing for clinical use. Floor drains and three-phase power for light industrial. These are the line items that make a per-foot average useless, and they are the reason two tenants in identical shells get bids that differ by double.
Buildout questions tenants ask
How much does a commercial buildout cost per square foot?
It varies by use more than by finish level, and the age of the shell drives it. Office fit-out in a serviceable building sits well below a restaurant or clinical buildout in an older one, because the second is paying for infrastructure rather than surfaces. Since the median tri-county retail and restaurant building dates to 1972, budget for shell work in those uses rather than assuming a finishes-only number.
What is a vanilla shell or white box?
There is no standard definition, which is exactly the problem. In one building it means finished walls, a dropped ceiling, lighting, HVAC and a compliant restroom; in another it means a slab and a stub-out. Have the delivery condition written into the lease as a specification with the electrical service, HVAC status and restroom compliance stated explicitly.
Should I take a bigger TI allowance or a lower rent?
Run both in total dollars across the term. An allowance is capital the landlord advances and recovers through rent, usually with interest, so a large allowance can cost more over ten years than paying for part of the work yourself at a market rate. The answer depends on your cost of capital and how long you intend to stay.
Who pays for accessibility upgrades?
It depends on the lease and on what triggered the requirement. Alterations you make can trigger obligations that the landlord's existing building did not carry. With most tri-county retail stock predating 1990, this comes up regularly and it should be allocated in writing before the work letter is signed rather than argued about during permitting.
How long does a commercial buildout take?
Plan on permitting to run longer than construction in most South Florida municipalities, particularly for a change of use in an older building. Protect yourself with a rent commencement date tied to delivery and permit approval rather than a fixed calendar date, so a slow plan review is not paid for out of your rent.
Tools: space calculator · lease cost · occupancy cost · TI work letter · all calculators · Justin Crow, South Florida tenant rep