If you’re looking to purchase a property or building for your business, most financial institutions require you to have a property survey to qualify for their loans. Some owners who use a cash transaction don’t always get a property survey, but if they did, they could prevent many issues by knowing all the details and history about their property.

Ray is the owner of a large corporation with his operation spanning over two locations.  When he outgrew his initial office, he got a great deal on a warehouse that was easily adaptable to expand his business.  Now, after years of hard work and smart decisions, he’s outgrowing both locations and has decided that it will be more efficient for his operation to all be under one roof.  But speculating on the costs involved, Ray is wondering if this is the best decision for his company right now?  What Ray may not be considering is economies of scale in construction. With his building being bigger, the duration of the project longer, and the fixed fees being the same, he can benefit from the efficiencies that his Design-Builder will pass through, which will lower the square footage cost.

Here is one secret of the trade to save significant time during pre-construction, by giving your contractor a ballpark budget before design and/or estimating starts, an owner can take a shortcut in the preliminary phase and get to construction sooner. When the timing matters, how much you’re willing to spend will make the process move along much faster.

We hear about energy efficiency, greenhouse gases, renewable energy, and carbon emissions more frequently these days, but maybe not as popular is Net Zero Energy Building or Net Zero Energy Building Ready. These aren’t new concepts, but with the flurry of attention on energy savings, we wanted to check into the current status for Michigan Commercial Building Owners. Since the Michigan Energy Code (2015) was adopted in 2017 in Michigan, how far are our Commercial Building owners from achieving Net Zero Energy Building Ready?

Once you’ve already determined the approximate size of the space you need, your budget, general location desired, and that the investment will fit within your business objectives, it’s time to start shopping for suitable building for your company changes.

When searching for commercial property you can and should rely on your realtor for many key details and features of the site that will benefit your business. That being said, there are details that only a Design/Build partner can help you make a more complete, educated decision. With the Architect and Contractor on the same team, they will review the site together and determine obstacles and costs quickly. Specifically, Design/Build contractors are looking for infrastructure, constructability, and challenges of a site that could potentially add cost to a construction budget or schedule.