SERVICES
Get the build-out priced, negotiated, built and reimbursed
Six services that turn the tenant improvement allowance from a line in the lease into a build-out that’s actually covered — from lease-stage pricing through final reimbursement.
Allowance benchmarking & lease-stage pricing
Before the lease is signed, a real build-out estimate for your space, your finishes and your program — based on current subcontractor pricing in your market, not a per-foot rule of thumb. You walk into the allowance negotiation with a defensible number.
Leverage note: an allowance ask backed by a line-item estimate is far harder for a landlord to discount than a round number. This is the single highest-return step in the process.
Work letter & lease exhibit review
We read the work letter and TI exhibit with you: what’s landlord’s work versus tenant’s work, the base-building condition you’re being delivered, what the allowance can and can’t be spent on (often not FF&E, cabling or soft costs), the deadline to draw it, and how overages are handled — paid in cash or amortized into rent.
Why it matters: the money you can actually use is defined by this language, not by the headline number. A $60/sf allowance that excludes half your scope is a $35/sf allowance.
Scope-to-budget design management
We manage the architect and engineers toward a design that lands on the allowance — programming, test fits, and a running budget updated at every design milestone. Where scope exceeds the number, we bring priced alternates before you’re committed, not after bids come in high.
Schedule note: design managed to a budget also moves faster — fewer redesign loops, a permit set that matches the money, and bids that come in close to estimate.
Competitive bidding & GC selection
A complete bid package, a qualified bidders list, and apples-to-apples bid leveling — so you’re comparing scope, not just bottom lines. We steer you to a contract that protects the allowance: a guaranteed maximum price or hard lump sum, defined allowances and contingency, and a clear change-order process.
Value note: competitively bid work on these projects routinely comes in 8 to 15 percent below a negotiated or sole-source price.
Construction management & change-order control
We run the build-out on your behalf — submittals, RFIs, the schedule, pay applications and site observation — with a single focus on holding scope, schedule and cost. Every change order is reviewed against the contract documents and challenged where it isn’t owed.
Why it matters: uncontrolled change orders are where the allowance is lost after the contract is signed. On managed projects we hold change orders to a low single-digit percentage of contract value.
Draw documentation & allowance reimbursement
We assemble the reimbursement package exactly as the lease requires: AIA G702/G703 applications, conditional and unconditional lien waivers from every tier, paid invoices, permits and inspection sign-offs, and progress photos. Submitted on the lease’s schedule, tracked to payment.
Why it matters: landlords reimburse against documentation, not effort. A package that matches the work-letter’s checklist gets paid; one that doesn’t gets held — sometimes past the deadline to draw at all.
What every engagement includes
A lease-stage estimate
A line-item build-out cost for your space and scope, in your market, before the allowance is negotiated.
A work-letter read
A plain summary of what the allowance covers, what it excludes, the draw deadline, and how overages are treated.
A draw plan
The exact documentation the lease requires for reimbursement, mapped to each pay application from day one.
Get the build-out priced
Send drawings, a scope summary or just the square footage and your draft work letter. We turn most lease-stage estimates around in three business days.