AUREABUILDCommercial build-outs · Austin, Texas
A commercial build-out has to fit inside a lease, a landlord's requirements and a permit review. Those documents decide what can be built, who pays for it, and what has to happen before the doors open.
Who this is for: Business owners and tenants planning a commercial build-out or tenant improvement.
First steps
The landlord may need to approve plans and contractors, specify building-standard materials, limit work hours, control access to shared systems and set how the space is returned at the end of the term. A tenant improvement allowance, if there is one, has its own terms for what it covers and when the money is released.
Send the lease sections and any work letter or design criteria early. Reading them next to your plan often turns up conflicts that cost little to fix before design and a lot after. Lease terms belong with your own attorney, since we aren't one. What we do is point out where the construction scope runs into the document.
A restaurant, a clinic, an office and a retail shop ask different things of a room. Use sets ventilation, plumbing, electrical load, accessibility, fire protection and how much finish is called for. Changing a space from one use to another can mean changes you can't see on a floor plan.
The building itself counts as much: ceiling height, structure, the state of the mechanical equipment, utility capacity and where the core sits. A bare shell and a second-generation space are different jobs. The second involves deciding what stays, what comes out and what the previous tenant left behind in the ceiling. The scope states which one you have.
Commercial interiors normally need drawings, and depending on the work, engineering for mechanical, electrical, plumbing or structure. The City of Austin permits through its Development Services Department, while Round Rock, Cedar Park, Lakeway, Pflugerville and Georgetown run their own offices. Requirements and review times vary by jurisdiction and project.
Electrical, plumbing and HVAC work in Texas is done by state-licensed professionals, and inspections follow the local jurisdiction's schedule. The trades get sequenced so each inspection happens before the work it covers is closed in. Our permit guide is written around residential projects, though the habit of checking early carries over.
Design and permit time usually sit ahead of construction on the calendar, and owners tend to underestimate them.
A finished room isn't an open business. Inspections have to pass, and an occupancy approval may be needed before the space can be used for its intended purpose. Specialized equipment, health or fire approvals, signage and utility activation all run beside or after the build.
The schedule gets built backward from the date you need to open, and anything outside the contractor's control is marked as such. An opening date picked before the permit is in hand is a target. A running list of what's needed for occupancy keeps items from turning up in the final week.
A tenant improvement allowance that doesn't cover the real scope is the most common cost problem. Others: a lease signed before anyone looked at what the space needs, long-lead equipment ordered late, a landlord approval nobody scheduled, and work started before the permit arrived. Compare the scope with the allowance before design is final, since comparing bids only helps if each bid says what's in and what's out.
Dates get named only when their dependencies are known, since permit review, landlord approvals and equipment lead times belong to other parties.
If you own the building, the lease drops out and your own requirements take its place. New construction on a lot follows a related path with site work and utilities added, covered under custom homes. Owners who also hold rental or resale property can look at investor renovations. To start on your space, request an estimate with the address, the use and where the lease stands.
Common questions
Send the space address, intended use, any floor plan, the lease or landlord work letter if you have it, and your target opening timing. With those we can identify the main questions and decide on a next step, usually a site visit.
Commercial work normally needs drawings and a permit, often with engineering. We coordinate with your designer or consultants and help move the submission forward. Requirements and review time vary with the city, the use and the scope.
We can compare the scope against the allowance and its terms. Whether it covers the job depends on the lease, the space and the finishes. Finding a gap before design is final is far better than finding it after bids come back.
No. Permit review, inspections, landlord approvals, equipment lead times and utility activation all affect it, and many sit with other parties. We build a schedule that lists those dependencies and update it as each one resolves.
Yes, as long as the property, scope and calendar fit. Second-generation space raises questions about what can stay and what the last tenant changed, so we look at the existing conditions before writing a scope.