Articles
Notes from the job site
What we have learned running renovations, build-outs and furniture installs: costs, schedules, contracts and the details that decide opening day.
Houston suburb build-out costs per square foot, 2026
A tenant build-out priced one way in Katy comes back higher or lower for the identical scope in Pearland, and higher or lower again for a space inside the loop…
Read the article →What moves build-out cost per square foot in Fort Worth (2026)
We sat across from a client last year holding a number a Dallas contractor had priced for a nearly identical space, wanting to know why our Fort Worth figure c…
Read the article →Apartment unit turn costs in Texas: what sets the number
Walk two vacated units on the same floor of a Houston property with the same floor plan and you can come back with two very different tickets. One needs paint…
Read the article →What drives the cost of a medical office build-out
Walk a finished medical suite and a finished law office side by side and the medical one will have cost noticeably more per square foot. The waiting rooms may…
Read the article →What an office build-out inside a warehouse costs per square foot in Texas
The first question a tenant asks about a warehouse office is what it will cost per square foot, and the honest answer starts with a second question: how much o…
Read the article →What a restaurant build-out costs per square foot, and why
Stand in an empty restaurant shell and look up. If a hood is hanging there with a duct running through the roof, the build-out just got cheaper. If the ceiling…
Read the article →Production interiors: finishing units at scale for builders
Walk a production community the week the first block of units is ready for finishes and there is nothing dramatic to see: taped drywall, empty rooms, a stack o…
Read the article →Whole-house remodels: from your drawings to move-in day
The kitchen wall came down on a Tuesday, and by Wednesday afternoon the family was standing in what used to be two rooms deciding whether the island should mov…
Read the article →C-store interiors and rebrands: one site, one reopening
The night before a convenience store reopens under a new brand, we're setting the last shelf of the cooler wall and peeling the protective film off the new cou…
Read the article →Mixed-use interiors: retail, amenities and units finished in one building
A retail tenant signs a lease for the ground floor storefront with an April move-in. Two floors up, the fitness room and the coworking lounge have to be finish…
Read the article →Certificate of occupancy: what stands between you and opening
The ribbon is ordered, the staff is hired, the furniture is in the lobby, and the doors stay locked. We have seen that week on other people's jobs. The buildin…
Read the article →Value engineering that keeps the design and moves the number
A budget review usually happens at a table with drawings spread out and one number circled in red. The owner asks where the money can come from. The wrong answ…
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