Before You Break Ground: What an Owner Needs Ready

We have walked sites where the owner had beautiful renderings and no signed lease, and sites where the money was ready and nobody could say what day the doors had to open. Both jobs started late. Before a demo crew or an excavator goes in, these are the things we want to see in your hands.

The date

Not a season, a date. The day the store trades, the day the first renovated floor goes back into inventory, the day the tenant's rent starts. Everything else on this list is measured against it, and the schedule we build ends on it.

The person who says yes

One name on your side with authority to approve a tile sample, sign a change and pick a door hardware finish without a committee. Jobs slip while approvals sit in an inbox. On our side that name is a principal of the company, on site, with a phone that gets answered.

The right to build

A signed lease or a closed deed. The landlord's work letter, if there is one, read all the way through. Deed restrictions, easements, brand standards and any zoning conditions that limit what can go where. Pricing a design you are not allowed to build is money spent twice.

The money and its rhythm

Know the source, the amount and how it pays out. Construction loans pay in draws against inspected progress, and the timing of those draws shapes when we can order long-lead items and pay suppliers. Tell us early if FF&E is funded separately, because it usually is.

What is being built

A plain description we can price from: square feet or the number of keys and units, new build or existing space, the condition of what is there now, and the finish level you have in mind. If it is a hotel PIP, the brand's scope document. If it is a restaurant, the equipment list. If it is a tenant interior, the landlord's base building drawings.

Paper that already exists

A survey, a soils report, old permit drawings, an existing floor plan, a fire sprinkler plan, photos of every room. Anything from the last time the building was touched. Incomplete is fine. Nothing at all costs weeks.

A budget with a reserve

A number you can defend, plus a contingency you do not intend to spend, plus the soft costs that never appear on a contractor's proposal: design, permits, fees, insurance, testing, financing. If the number and the date do not fit the scope, we would rather say so now.

Bring these to the first walk and the conversation moves straight to how the job gets built. If a few are missing, that is normal, and we will help you close the gaps during pre-construction. Send over the plans and the date and we will start there.