Commercial real estate project management

Building a schedule around long-lead equipment

Most project delays we are asked to fix were baked in on day one, when someone drew a schedule that assumed every piece of equipment would show up when the drywall was done. It does not work that way. Electrical switchgear, transformers, rooftop HVAC units, generators, elevators, commercial kitchen hoods and, in Florida, impact-rated storefronts and windows can all carry lead times long enough to drive the whole job.

We build the schedule backward from those items. As soon as the design is far enough along to specify them, we get submittals approved and orders placed, sometimes before the full permit is issued if the owner accepts that risk. We track each long-lead item on its own line with the order date, promised ship date and the last date it can arrive without moving the opening. When a supplier slips, we know within days, not when the crew is standing around waiting.

The other schedule driver people underestimate is the utility company. New service, upgraded service or a relocated meter can take longer than the building work itself. We open those requests early and stay on them.

How we structure a project budget

A budget that is only a contractor’s bid is not a budget. Owners pay for a lot more than construction, and the items outside the contract are the ones that surprise them.

How much contingency to carry depends on how much is unknown. A second-generation office refresh with good drawings needs less than a gut renovation of an older building where nobody has seen behind the walls. We set it based on the specific risks, then report every draw against it so the owner can see how much cushion is left.

Storm restoration in Southwest Florida

After a hurricane, every owner needs the same contractors at the same time. The ones who recover fastest are the ones who already have a plan. Our restoration work follows a consistent order: secure and dry in the building to stop further damage, document everything before it is removed, scope the repair with a contractor and the insurance adjuster, then rebuild.

One rule shapes many coastal restoration projects. Under the National Flood Insurance Program, if a building in a special flood hazard area is substantially damaged or substantially improved (generally when the cost of work reaches half the market value of the structure), the local floodplain administrator can require the whole building to be brought into compliance with current flood rules. That can mean elevating or floodproofing, which changes the entire economics of the repair. Each community administers this rule and its details, so we work with the local building department early in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples and Punta Gorda to understand how it applies before scope is set.

We also look past the immediate repair. If the roof, windows or electrical are being replaced anyway, it may be the right moment to harden the building so the next storm costs less.

Mandatory inspection programs in both states

Florida milestone inspections

After the 2021 Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside, Florida adopted a milestone structural inspection requirement for condominium and cooperative buildings three stories or taller, along with structural integrity reserve studies. The trigger ages, deadlines and reporting requirements have been amended since, so we confirm current rules with the association’s engineer and the local building official. When an inspection finds structural repairs are needed, we help associations scope, bid and manage the work.

New York City facade inspections

Buildings taller than six stories in New York City are subject to the Facade Inspection Safety Program, often called Local Law 11, which requires periodic inspection by a qualified professional and repair of unsafe conditions. Owners in Manhattan and Brooklyn often bring us in when a filing comes back with conditions that need repair and a sidewalk shed has to go up. We focus on getting repairs done efficiently so the shed comes down as soon as possible.

Restaurant and food-service buildouts

Restaurants are the most coordination-heavy tenant projects we see, and a lot of that coordination is plumbing, gas and ventilation. Sal holds a Florida plumbing contractor license, so we look closely at the parts of a restaurant job that most often go sideways: grease interceptor sizing and location, floor drains and floor sinks, gas service capacity, water heater sizing for dish and prep, and whether the existing sewer line can handle the load.

The kitchen hood and its fire suppression system, the makeup air unit, and the path of the exhaust duct to the roof all have to be worked out with the landlord before the lease is signed if possible. Health department plan review runs alongside the building permit, and in many jurisdictions the fire marshal has its own review. We map every approval and inspection on one schedule so an opening date is based on real dependencies. In food-heavy corridors like Wynwood or Las Olas, second-generation restaurant space with usable infrastructure can save months, and we check what is actually reusable before a tenant pays a premium for it.

Working in occupied buildings

Renovating a lobby while tenants come and go, replacing a roof over occupied offices, or upgrading a multifamily building unit by unit takes a different kind of planning than an empty shell. Our approach on occupied jobs:

• Phase the work so every tenant keeps access, egress and essential services at all times.
• Schedule demolition, coring and other loud work after hours or on agreed windows, and put those windows in writing.
• Plan utility shutdowns ahead and give notice according to the leases.
• Set dust and debris controls, protected paths and elevator use rules with the contractor before mobilization.
• Keep a single point of contact for tenant questions so complaints do not go straight to the crew.

For landlords, the leases matter as much as the construction. Some leases limit when work can happen or entitle tenants to abatement if their premises are disrupted. We read those provisions before we sequence the work, which is easier because we also handle landlord representation and know where those clauses tend to hide.

Managing a Florida project from out of state

A lot of Southwest Florida commercial property is owned by people who live in New York, the Northeast or the Midwest. Remote ownership is fine until a project starts, and then the owner is relying on the contractor’s own description of the contractor’s own progress.

For remote owners we set a fixed rhythm: a site visit and photo set on a regular schedule, a written report, and a short call to walk through decisions. Approvals happen by email with a clear record of what was approved and at what price. Payments go out only after we verify the work. The owner sees the project without having to fly in, and the contractor knows someone independent is watching. Our Southwest Florida project management page covers the local side in more detail.

Our risk register

Every project we manage has a running risk list. It is not a formality. Each risk gets an owner, a likely cost or time impact, a decision date and a plan. Typical entries include unknown conditions behind walls or below slabs, utility timing, long-lead equipment, permit comments, weather during Florida’s hurricane season (June through November), and neighbor or landlord approvals in New York. Reviewing that list each week is how we catch problems while they are still cheap. The top items go into the weekly owner report described above, so nothing on the list surprises you.

A hypothetical repositioning project

For example, picture a hypothetical owner who buys an older two-story office building in Fort Myers with plans to convert part of it to medical use. Before closing, we would walk the building with the owner’s engineer to check roof age, HVAC capacity, electrical service, restroom counts and elevator condition, and estimate what medical tenants will need. After closing, we would set a capital plan in phases: base building work first, then a spec suite to show prospective tenants, then individual buildouts as leases are signed. Each phase gets its own budget and schedule so the owner can pause between phases if leasing is slower than expected.

Who does what on a project

Owners often ask how our role differs from the general contractor’s project manager, or from the owner’s rep they may have heard about. The short version: the contractor’s project manager works for the contractor. We work for you.

On many projects we combine project management with owner’s representation, which adds a heavier focus on contract terms, bid evaluation and advocacy.

Ground-up site work in Southwest Florida

On a new building in Lee or Collier County, the first months are often spent below grade and outside the building pad. Raw lots in places like Lehigh Acres or North Fort Myers can need clearing, fill brought in to reach required elevation, compaction testing, stormwater ponds or underground storage, and extension of water and sewer if the site is served. Each of those has its own permit or inspection.

We sequence site work so utility trenches and stormwater are done before paving, and so the building pad is certified before the foundation crew arrives. Rainy season can stall earthwork, so where we can, we plan to have the pad up and drained before summer storms set in. As a contractor, Sal has managed this sequence directly, which helps when a site contractor’s schedule does not add up.

Project mistakes we help owners avoid

• Committing to an opening or lease commencement date before permits and long-lead items are confirmed.
• Ordering furniture and equipment without checking delivery against the construction schedule.
• Letting the contractor own the only copy of the schedule.
• Skipping a pre-construction survey of existing conditions and neighboring buildings, then having no record when a crack appears.
• Treating the contractor’s contingency as the owner’s money.
• Forgetting the certificate of occupancy or completion is a separate step from finishing construction.

How project management fees work

We charge a fixed fee for well-defined projects, a monthly fee when duration is the main variable, or a percentage of project cost on larger capital programs. The fee, scope, reporting schedule and site visit frequency are written into the agreement before we start. We do not take payments from contractors or vendors on projects we manage. If you are planning work in any of our markets, contact us or call 239-256-5005.

Medical and healthcare suites

Medical tenants need more from a building than office users do, and many of those needs are hard to add after the fact. Exam rooms need sinks, which means plumbing runs to places an office layout never had them. Procedure rooms may need dedicated HVAC, medical gas or emergency power. Imaging equipment can require shielding, structural reinforcement and specific electrical service. Accessibility requirements apply throughout, from parking to restrooms to door hardware.

We review those requirements against the building before a lease is signed, not after. If a floor cannot support the equipment or the riser cannot carry the plumbing, the tenant should know while they still have options. During construction we coordinate the equipment vendor’s installation requirements with the contractor’s schedule, because medical equipment installers often work on their own timeline and need finished, conditioned rooms before they show up.

Working around neighbors in New York City

In dense neighborhoods like Williamsburg, Gowanus or Chelsea, the building next door is part of your project whether you like it or not. Excavation, underpinning, roof protection and scaffolding can all require access to adjoining property or monitoring of it. We push for early outreach to neighbors, a pre-construction condition survey of adjacent buildings, and vibration and movement monitoring where the engineer calls for it. When a neighbor will not agree to access, the owner’s attorney may need to pursue it formally, which takes time. Building that possibility into the schedule from the start is far better than discovering it when the crane is booked.

Tying construction to the lease and the loan

Construction never happens in isolation. A tenant’s free rent period may start on a fixed date whether the space is ready or not. A landlord may owe a tenant penalties or abatement if delivery is late. A construction lender releases money through draws that require inspections, lien waivers and title updates. We put those dates and conditions on the same schedule as the construction milestones, so the owner can see where a slip on site turns into a cost in the lease or the loan. That is one of the practical advantages of working with a brokerage that also manages construction.

How we handle change orders

Every project gets changes. The problem is rarely the change itself. It is a change that gets priced after the work is done, with no backup and no schedule impact stated, and then shows up as a surprise on the final pay application.

Our rule is simple: no changed work starts without a written request that states scope, cost and time. We review each one against the contract documents to sort out what is truly new scope, what was already shown on the drawings and what is a coordination miss between trades. Then we check the price against unit costs from the original bid and, where it makes sense, ask a second contractor for a number.

1. The contractor or design team identifies a change and submits a request with backup.
2. We confirm whether it is owner-directed, a field condition or a document error, because that decides who should pay.
3. We negotiate price and days, then send the owner a one-page summary with a recommendation.
4. Approved changes are logged against contingency so the owner always sees what is left.

In older Brooklyn and Manhattan buildings, hidden conditions behind walls are common, so we carry a larger contingency there and document conditions with photos before demolition starts.

Utility service and owner-furnished equipment

Two items quietly sink opening dates: utility work and equipment the owner buys directly. Power upgrades, new water or sewer connections and fire service lines run on the utility’s calendar, not the contractor’s, so we start those applications as early as the design allows and track them on the main schedule.

Owner-furnished items such as kitchen equipment, medical equipment, furniture or IT racks need the same discipline. We set delivery dates, confirm the electrical and plumbing rough-ins match the cut sheets, and decide who receives, stores and sets each piece. For example, in a hypothetical Fort Myers restaurant build-out, we would hold the hood and walk-in cooler orders until the mechanical drawings were final, then lock delivery to the week after rough inspections. See our Southwest Florida project management and owner’s representation pages for more.