Budget ranges
What it costs to build here
Published planning ranges by building type and by package, with the basis stated and the soft costs listed separately — because leaving those out is how a budget ends up wrong by a third.
Reviewed October 2026 · planning figures, not a bid
00How to read it
A per-square-foot figure is the right tool for deciding whether to build and the wrong tool for deciding what to sign.
Use these to answer the question you actually have at this stage: is this a two-million project or a five-million one? That is what a board, a lender or a partner needs before anybody releases money for design. Do not use them to build a number you intend to hold somebody to.
Then read the soft-cost table below before you do either. Construction is roughly two-thirds to four-fifths of what you will actually spend, and the utility tap fees in this metro catch out more owners than any other single line.
And there is one thing these tables genuinely cannot show you, which is why the coverage page matters more than this one. Two owners with identical drawings land at opposite ends of these ranges depending on how many firms bid each trade. The drawings set the scope; the buying sets the price.
Before the architect and before us. Parts of this metro sit on expansive clay, and the difference between a conventional slab and an engineered foundation runs to hundreds of thousands. Until that report exists, every figure on this page carries an uncertainty larger than the range printed beside it — and every earthwork bid you receive will have priced the risk differently, which makes them impossible to compare.
What moves a number to the top
- Thin bid coverage. Three trades with one bidder each puts you at the top of every range on this page, with the same drawings.
- The soils. An engineered foundation on expansive clay is a different building from a slab on grade.
- The site. A long utility run, an unbalanced cut and fill, or a detention requirement — all large, all invisible from the building.
- The specification. The gap between a functional interior and a brand-standard one is a multiple, not a percentage.
The first one is the one nobody tells owners about, and it is the one this site is mostly about.
Working on a number this week?
Tell us the use, the area and the site and we will narrow it on the call.
Call (303) 986-4555Mon–Fri 7:30 AM–4:30 PM MT
01By package
Construction cost, by package
Construction only. Design, reports, permit and tap fees, testing, equipment and contingency are separate and are in the next table.
Package 01 Preconstruction & the Buy
| Item | Service | Unit | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01.10 | Concept budget From published ranges, against a programme and a site | LS | $0 |
| 01.20 | Feasibility and site test fit What the parcel allows once setbacks and parking are applied | LS | $4,500–$22,000 |
| 01.30 | Preconstruction, schematic through permit Budgeting, constructability, scheduling, procurement planning | LS | $18,000–$95,000 |
| 01.40 | Preconstruction, as a share of construction Where it runs through to a guaranteed maximum price | PCT | 0.5%–1.5% |
| 01.50 | Bid list development and solicitation Included in preconstruction; never charged separately | LS | included |
| 01.60 | Scope levelling and gap closure Included. This is the work, not an extra | LS | included |
Preconstruction & the Buy in detail — with its bid coverage and the gaps that recur on it.
Package 02 New Commercial Buildings
| Item | Building type | Unit | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02.10 | Light industrial / warehouse shell Pre-engineered metal, dock-high, minimal office | SF | $150–$250 |
| 02.15 | Finished office within a warehouse The office portion, priced separately | SF | $225–$385 |
| 02.20 | Retail shell Ready for a tenant to fit out | SF | $185–$300 |
| 02.25 | Flex / light industrial, complete Finished to occupancy, mid specification | SF | $240–$420 |
| 02.30 | Office building, complete Finished to occupancy, mid specification | SF | $340–$540 |
| 02.35 | Clinic or medical office Specialist plumbing, power and gases | SF | $420–$700 |
| 02.40 | Site work, parking and landscape Per square foot of site area | SF | $15–$45 |
| 02.50 | Foundation on expansive soils Engineered system per the geotechnical report | LS | site visit |
New Commercial Buildings in detail — with its bid coverage and the gaps that recur on it.
Package 03 Tenant Improvements
| Item | Fit-out type | Unit | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03.10 | Office fit-out, open plan, basic Shell to occupancy, standard finishes | SF | $100–$175 |
| 03.15 | Office fit-out, mid specification Private offices, conference, break room | SF | $160–$275 |
| 03.20 | Clinical or medical fit-out Exam rooms, plumbing, specialist power and gases | SF | $250–$490 |
| 03.25 | Retail fit-out To a brand standard, excluding tenant fixtures | SF | $140–$290 |
| 03.30 | Restaurant fit-out Excluding kitchen equipment; hood and grease drive it | SF | $290–$640 |
| 03.40 | Demolition, second-generation space Strip out including ceiling and services | SF | $9–$26 |
| 03.50 | Mechanical, added or reconfigured Rooftop unit, distribution, controls | EA | $19,000–$98,000 |
| 03.60 | Electrical service or panel upgrade Where the existing service is insufficient | LS | $24,000–$145,000 |
| 03.90 | Unpermitted existing work, legalised Discovered above the ceiling | LS | site visit |
Tenant Improvements in detail — with its bid coverage and the gaps that recur on it.
Package 04 Additions & Remodels
| Item | Work | Unit | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04.10 | Addition, light industrial Matching an existing building, tied in | SF | $180–$310 |
| 04.15 | Addition, office Finished to occupancy, tied into existing systems | SF | $370–$590 |
| 04.20 | Remodel, occupied, light Finishes, lighting, layout, no structural work | SF | $90–$195 |
| 04.25 | Remodel, occupied, substantial Including mechanical, electrical and structure | SF | $210–$430 |
| 04.30 | Envelope or facade replacement Including any required structural backup | SF | $65–$180 |
| 04.40 | Roof replacement, commercial Tear-off, deck repair, membrane, flashing | SQ | $1,150–$2,900 |
| 04.50 | Temporary conditions and protection Partitions, temporary power, dust and noise control | LS | $18,000–$125,000 |
| 04.60 | Out-of-hours premium Where the business cannot be disturbed in the day | PCT | 15%–35% |
| 04.90 | Concealed conditions Priced when opened; carried as an allowance until then | LS | site visit |
Additions & Remodels in detail — with its bid coverage and the gaps that recur on it.
Package 05 Institutional & Public Work
| Item | Building type | Unit | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 05.10 | Municipal or administrative building Finished to occupancy | SF | $380–$620 |
| 05.20 | Community or recreation facility Excluding pools and specialist equipment | SF | $420–$720 |
| 05.30 | Education, classroom addition Finished to occupancy, on an existing campus | SF | $400–$680 |
| 05.40 | Maintenance or operations facility Shop, storage, limited office | SF | $210–$390 |
| 05.50 | Renovation, occupied institutional Phased around an operating facility | SF | $230–$470 |
| 05.60 | Prevailing wage premium Where the funding source requires it | PCT | 8%–22% |
| 05.70 | Commissioning support Contractor’s labour, where specified | LS | $12,000–$70,000 |
Institutional & Public Work in detail — with its bid coverage and the gaps that recur on it.
Units are SF square foot of the area being built, SQ roofing square (100 SF), EA each, LS lump sum, PCT a percentage of construction cost.
Figures are USD planning ranges for commercial construction in the Denver metro. They exclude land, design and engineering fees, permit and tap fees, furnishings and equipment, and any applicable tax, and assume normal site conditions and a buildable season. Bid coverage counts are typical for this market and this building type, not a promise about your project. They are published so an owner can size a project, and ask better questions, before there is a drawing to price. They are planning figures, not a bid. Reviewed October 2026. A price for your project comes from a proposal against a defined scope. See the disclaimer.
02Not construction
The other third of your budget
None of this is in a contractor’s number. It is published here because you will pay it whether or not anybody told you about it, and because the tap fees in this metro surprise almost everyone.
| Item | Typical range | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Design and engineering | 6%–12% of construction | Architecture, structural, MEP and civil. |
| Geotechnical report | $7,000–$26,000 | Required on essentially everything here. The cheapest large piece of information available to an owner, and the most often skipped. |
| Survey, ALTA and topographic | $5,000–$22,000 | Boundary, topography and existing conditions. |
| Building permit and plan review | $9,000–$120,000+ | Scales with valuation. Confirm with the jurisdiction early; it is rarely what people guess. |
| Utility tap and connection fees | $15,000–$400,000+ | Water and sewer taps in particular. On some sites one of the single largest line items, and it surprises almost everyone. |
| Testing and special inspection | 0.5%–1.5% of construction | Independent, required on most structural work, and normally retained by the owner — which is the correct arrangement. |
| Furniture, fixtures and equipment | Your own number | Not construction, and routinely 10–25% of the construction cost on an office or clinical building. |
| Owner contingency | 5%–10% of construction | Yours, separate from anything in a contractor’s number. An owner without one has no way to say yes to their own good idea at month eight. |
As a planning rule, add 20 to 40 per cent on top of the construction number, and more on a site with heavy tap fees. Confirm the permit and tap fees with the jurisdiction early rather than estimating them — they are published, they are knowable, and they are rarely what people guess.
03Worked through
A 15,000 square foot flex building, all in
Built from the tables above, with nothing added and nothing hidden — and shown twice, because the same drawings land in two different places depending on how the trades were bought.
| Item | Basis | Well bought | Thinly bought |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02.10 | Warehouse shell, 12,000 SFat $150 and $250 / SF | $1,800,000 | $3,000,000 |
| 02.15 | Finished office, 3,000 SFat $225 and $385 / SF | $675,000 | $1,155,000 |
| 02.40 | Site work, parking and landscape60,000 SF of site at $15 and $45 / SF | $900,000 | $2,700,000 |
| — | Construction subtotalThe contractor’s number | $3,375,000 | $6,855,000 |
| SC | Soft costsat 20% and 40% | $675,000 | $2,742,000 |
| GAP | The eight boundaries, unclosedfrom the gap register, found in the field | $0 | $111,000–$442,000 |
| LD | LandYour own number, not ours | excluded | excluded |
| — | Order of magnitudeBefore land | $4,050,000 | $9,708,000+ |
Both columns are arithmetic done on the published tables and neither is padded. The right column is not a worse building — it is the same building, bought badly: trades let late into a thin market, scopes never levelled, and eight boundaries closed in the field instead of at a table.
That is the argument of this whole site in one row. The drawings set the scope. The buying sets the price.
04Questions
Questions about the money
Schedule of values, pay applications, retainage, change orders and lien waivers are in the payment and cancellation policy.
Why publish ranges at all?
Because the decision an owner actually has to make — whether to build — happens months before there is a drawing to price. At that moment the industry’s standard answer is "call us for a quote", and there is nothing to quote against. Publishing ranges with a stated basis costs us nothing we were not going to say in a first meeting, and it means the people who telephone have a project that is real.
Why are the ranges so wide?
Because the honest spread is wide, and narrowing it would make the figures less true rather than more useful. A warehouse shell between $150 and $250 a square foot is the real distance between a simple building on a flat, balanced site with services at the property line, and the same building on expansive clay with a long utility run, a detention requirement and a higher finish standard.
Why does a smaller building cost more per square foot?
Because much of a building does not scale with floor area. One service entry, one fire riser, one entrance, one set of restrooms, one site connection — those cost roughly the same at 8,000 square feet as at 40,000. Divide them by a smaller area and the rate looks worse. It is arithmetic, not inefficiency, and it is the commonest way a per-foot figure misleads somebody.
What is excluded?
Land, design and engineering fees, permit and plan review fees, utility tap fees, survey and geotechnical reports, testing and special inspection, furniture and equipment, owner contingency and tax. Together those routinely add 20 to 40 per cent on top, and on a site with heavy tap fees considerably more. There is a table of them below, because leaving them out is how a budget is wrong by a third before anybody has done anything wrong.
How does bid coverage affect my budget?
Directly, and it is the part these tables cannot show you. A project where three trades have one bidder each will land at the top of every range on this page, because three packages were priced without competition. A project where the bid list was built early and chased properly lands lower with the same drawings. That is why the coverage page exists and why it is the more useful of the two.
Are these your prices?
No. These are planning ranges for this class of work in this market, published so an owner can size a project. A price is a proposal or a guaranteed maximum price against a defined scope, a set of drawings and a specification, and it is a commitment. If you need a commitment you need one of those, and they come from documents rather than from a table.
What happens if the budget does not work?
We tell you early, which is the only genuinely useful thing a contractor can do about it. The options are always the same four — reduce the area, reduce the specification, phase the project, or find more money — and the time to choose is at schematic design, not at bid. A firm that lets a project reach a finished drawing set before mentioning that the budget never worked has cost its client a year.
Narrow the range on a phone call
The use, the approximate area, the site if you have one, and the date you need to be in it. With those four we can usually tell you which end of each range you are at, and which of your trades is going to be the thin one.
Pinkard Construction Co. · 9195 W 6th Ave, Lakewood, CO 80215