Commercial & Tenant Improvements · Hampton Roads
Open on time.
Not on hope.
Restaurant buildouts, retail and office refreshes, tenant improvements. Your rent clock starts before your revenue does, so every week the space isn’t open comes out of your pocket. We work your side of the job: one scope, licensed commercial contractors bidding the same work, and every pay app checked before it’s paid.
Where it hurts
Your opening date is a number. Everyone else treats it like a wish.
The landlord has a work letter. The GC has a bid. The city has a review queue. Your lender, your franchisor and your staff all have dates. Nobody on that list is paid to protect yours.
The bid priced what it could see.
Then the ceiling came down. Grease, electrical service, ADA, fire suppression. The change orders start, and so does the argument.
The TI allowance doesn’t stretch.
The work letter said one thing, the budget assumed another. The gap lands on you, usually after the walls are open.
Long-lead items sink the schedule.
Rooftop units, hoods, switchgear, storefront glass. Order them late and your grand opening moves with them.
Pay apps get approved on faith.
Billing runs ahead of progress, lien waivers trail behind, and you find out at closeout who wasn’t paid.
The gap
Five handoffs between the lease and the ribbon cutting.
Every commercial job runs the same gauntlet. Each step is someone else’s responsibility, and each one can cost you weeks of rent with no revenue behind it.
The space
What the lease and the work letter actually cover, and what the existing conditions will cost.
The scope
Design intent, brand standards and code turned into one scope every contractor prices.
The bids
Commercially licensed GCs, leveled line by line, exclusions and allowances exposed.
Permits & inspections
Building, fire and, for food service, health review. The GC is the applicant; somebody has to keep it moving.
The build
Long leads, pay apps, change orders, punch and the certificate of occupancy.
doors
A week late isn’t a schedule problem. It’s a week of rent, payroll and loan interest with the doors still closed.
The fix
Your owner’s rep for the buildout.
You run your business. We run your side of the job, from the work letter to the punch list, and licensed partners do the licensed work.
- The lease and the opening date
- Your brand standards or design team
- The budget and the funding
- Every major decision
You decide. We make sure you’re deciding on facts.
- Scope and budgetOne complete scope and a budget to complete, built before anyone bids. TI allowance tracked against it.
- Leveled bids2 to 3 licensed commercial contractors pricing the same job, compared line by line.
- Long-lead planEquipment, units and storefront ordered on a schedule that works back from your opening date.
- Permit coordinationBuilding, fire and health review tracked with the licensed GC as applicant.
- Pay-app controlEvery pay application checked against progress, lien waivers and signed change orders.
- CloseoutPunch, warranties, lien releases and a closeout file for you, your landlord and your lender.
How it works
From signed lease to open doors.
Before you commitSpace and scope
Walk the space, read the work letter, flag existing conditions and code items, and turn the design intent into one scope.
You getA scope and budget range before the lease clock owns you.
PreconstructionBids and permits
2 to 3 leveled bids from commercially licensed contractors, a long-lead schedule and permit coordination through issuance.
You getA contractor you chose on the facts, and a schedule built backward from opening.
ConstructionControl
Pay-app review, change orders priced and signed before the work, schedule tracking and one report for you, the landlord and the lender.
You getNo pay app approved without waivers and matching progress.
TurnoverCloseout
Punch list, inspections, certificate of occupancy coordination, warranties and lien releases in one file.
You getKeys, a clean file and no surprise liens.
What changes
Same space. Different odds.
| Contractor-run buildout | With owner-side controls | |
|---|---|---|
| Who writes the scope | The contractor bidding the job | You, with us, before anyone bids |
| How bids compare | They don’t, really | Leveled line by line on one scope |
| Long-lead items | Ordered when someone remembers | Scheduled back from your opening date |
| Pay applications | Approved on trust | Checked against progress and waivers |
| Change orders | Agreed in the field | Priced and signed before the work |
| At closeout | A box of invoices | A file your landlord and lender can use |
Who it’s for
Built for the people paying for the space.
Restaurants, retail, offices
You signed the lease. The opening date is yours, and so is every week it slips.
Tenant improvements and refreshes
Deliver the space on the work letter, inside the allowance, with a file that holds up.
Brand standards, local reality
The prototype says one thing. The building, the code and the local contractors say another.
Refinancing or repositioning a whole building? See Multifamily & Light Commercial. A builder moving into commercial work? See Builder Partners.
What it costs
Fixed and monthly fees. Set before work starts.
Preconstruction Controls
Billed in advance, 3-month minimum. Ends when the construction contract is signed.
- One complete scope and budget
- 2 to 3 leveled bids
- Long-lead schedule
- Permit coordination
Owner’s Rep Oversight
Billed in advance, for the construction duration.
- Pay-app and draw review
- Change control
- Schedule tracking
- One report for owner, landlord and lender
- Closeout file
Build Coordination
Paid per draw by the owner. Project-specific pricing.
- Full job coordination in one shared record
- Commercial GC with the right license class
- Partner fee disclosed as a line item
Landlords planning capex across a building: the Capex / Cost-to-Cure Budget is $3,500 fixed for one building up to about 24 units. File-only support during construction (Owner Project Controls) is $1,500/month. We never stack Oversight and Build Coordination on the same job.
How we stay in our lane
Clear lines. No side deals.
Commercial work goes to a GC licensed for commercial work, verified in DPOR before anyone bids.
Architects, engineers and designers do the licensed design work. We coordinate it; we don’t draw or stamp it.
We don’t certify work, approve draws for a lender, or write property condition reports. We build the file.
Draws go from you, your lender or title to the licensed contractor. No markup on labor or materials.
Licensed partners build; we protect every stakeholder’s money and timeline.
Experience behind the desk
Restaurants, hospitality, retail. We’ve been in the room.
Our leadership has worked on restaurant programs, hospitality interiors and retail buildouts at prior firms. Every project is labeled by firm and role on our experience page.
Leadership and licensed partner builders, including prior firms.
See the experienceQuestions
Straight answers.
Are you the general contractor?
No. A licensed commercial GC holds the contract and does the work. We work for you, the owner or tenant, on scope, bids, schedule, pay apps and closeout.
Can you guarantee my opening date?
No one honest can. Counties, inspectors, suppliers and contractors keep their own schedules. What we do is build the schedule back from your date, order long-lead items early and flag slippage the week it happens, not the week you were supposed to open.
The landlord’s contractor is doing the work. Do I still need you?
Often, yes. Your landlord’s contractor works for your landlord. We check the work letter, the allowance, the pay apps and the change orders from your side.
Do you design the space?
No. Licensed architects, engineers and designers do the design. We turn their drawings and your brand standards into one scope, and coordinate them through permits.
Do you work on franchise prototypes?
Yes. We map the franchisor’s standards against the actual building, local code and local contractor pricing before you commit to a number.
What size jobs?
Light commercial: restaurant buildouts, retail and office refreshes, tenant improvements and small mixed-use. Larger or ground-up commercial: quoted case by case.
Your next step
Signed a lease? Let’s protect the date.
A short call: your space, your opening date and the one thing most likely to move it.
Licensed commercial GCs build · No markup · The money never runs through us