Commercial remodeling projects are a great way to improve upon an existing space, and the best part of this approach is that it offers a great deal of freedom—you can do as little or as much as you like! There is also a lot of diversity in commercial remodeling projects, due to the fact that each space is different, as well as the goals for each project.
Remodeling a commercial space can have a number of benefits for both the owner and to those who work in the building or visit regularly. A successful commercial remodeling project should make the location look more attractive to current or potential clients while improving the efficiency or accommodating employee use. You’d be surprised at what a difference a few improvements or updates make and you might not be aware of all of the resources that are available to you for this type of project.
Most remodeling projects involve some level of construction work, which requires the expertise, skills and leadership of a general contractor. A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project—basically the overall management of the entire project. The importance of working with someone who you trust and who also has verifiable experience and good references, and someone with whom you can communicate effectively, is truly paramount. “Having a reliable, trustworthy, quality contractor is key with any commercial project,” says Jeff Gehring, President and owner of Mercury Contractors, Inc. “Mercury Contractors, Inc. is an International Code Council (ICC) Class B builder. We are licensed, bonded and insured in all local municipalities, as well as EPA lead certified. We are a member of the Millard Business Association, Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce and a member of the BBB with zero complaints. We specialize in quality construction management, which includes efficient timelines while keeping budget costs in line. Additionally, we know and understand the challenges businesses face when construction is undertow. As a team, we combine our expertise and experience to effectively get the job done–we don’t look at it as another job, we genuinely care and it’s our passion! We pride ourselves in offering turnkey solutions for property managers and commercial brokers. Our architectural partnerships allow us to provide initial drawings and budget estimates at NO cost to the client.” He advises, “Be sure to work with a commercial contractor who understands commercial real estate remodeling and can go through the right channels to make sure the right city/county permits are pulled, work is done to code, and that tenant improvements are approved by the building management. With a business-like approach to commercial remodeling, you can have the fun while avoiding the hassles. Furthermore, there are better design practices and energy efficient methods being built into commercial spaces today. Some of which include innovative lighting technology, HVAC efficiencies and superior roofing products. Knowing and understanding products in your space, or as you are making selections, can give you advanced protection and sustainability for years to come!”
Commercial remodeling can encompass exterior features, interior features, or both—it just depends on your needs and what you are trying to achieve with your project. McGill Restoration specializes in restoration projects of all types, and regarding commercial renovation projects, their most popular services center around repair and restoration of various exterior aspects. This includes exterior cladding or veneer systems, such as brick, stone, stucco, protective coatings, etc. and parking structures. Darin Cielocha, Vice President of McGill Restoration, explains, “Commercial remodeling in Eastern Nebraska is still trending very highly in the area of sustainability. There is a lot of focus within our culture on the need for companies to be conscious of the fact that being sustainable is something that everyone needs to try be a part of. Taking something that is ‘vintage’ and cleaning it up and making it functional is perceived as being very environmental friendly. So, there is no greater act of sustainability in construction than renovating and/or restoring an existing structure of a building! It really does keep us from filling up our landfills. Furthermore, renovating older warehouse facilities into new office spaces or condos/apartments in downtown urban parts of Lincoln and Omaha is currently quite popular. This type of work continues to thrive and new projects seem to spring forth ever year.”
Cielocha advises, “One way to ensure the success of your project is to make sure that you put a very experienced team together. There are contractors, like us, that work closely with many architects and engineers to make sure that the buildings are restored correctly and safely. Most of the projects that we have worked on to successfully capture the owner’s vision and desired use of the structure have involved a great team of people with years of combined experience in restoration. Our scope of the project usually involves the negotiated work, which allows us to take our lead directly from the owner and their consulting team of design professionals. Since you do not know always what you are going to uncover and/or encounter on a restoration project. There are sometimes unseen costs or changes that will often occur in this type of construction work, and it’s important that the owner is made fully aware of changes in order to keep a project on budget.
In addition to renovation possibilities, there are general maintenance items that need to be addressed either yearly or at least once every 3-5 years on commercial building and structures. Those areas include all joint sealants on the exterior of the building and horizontal concrete. All areas that are painted or coated need to be looked at also every 5 – 7 years. These areas of the buildings are critical areas that if ignored can accelerate the deterioration of any structure, so every year, put a little money aside to have troubled areas maintained. A simple lesson, it can cost you a little money every year or two or a lot of money down the road when something seriously can go wrong!”
Before you actually start the remodeling project, especially during the planning phase and for things such as adding on the building or adding features to the property, you will need to know exactly where your property lines lie. Land Survey Inc. will walk you through every requirement and will take care of all the ground work based upon the details of your specific project. Toni Montana, owner of Land Survey Inc., advises, “Knowing where your property lines are located is really the basis of beginning to build. It is also very important to know the zoning requirements so you don’t go past what the city or county requires. It will save you a lot of money and headaches if you work with someone who knows the process, and if you have gathered all of the information you need about your property before you get started with your renovations. We take pride in providing a lot of hands-on information for property owners, as well as being able to assure them that everything is on track to proceed.”
Commercial remodels focus on both aesthetics and function, and as far as both are concerned it is, again, essential to consider both for the exterior of your building as well as the interior. Brandy Prettyman, owner of The Grounds Guys of SW Omaha, explains, “We like to get to know our clients, to find out what they are actually looking for in their remodel—do they want increased foot traffic or enhanced curb appeal, have they outgrown the space or do they want to repurpose it, etc. because that all affects the services we will offer them. We do a lot of consultations where we walk clients through what their actual needs are and what their wants are, and then we prioritize those–on a scale of 1-10, how important is each item? This helps the client to focus on what they actually need versus what they want or think that they need, as well as to establish a budget and to stay on track with that budget. With commercial remodels it is easy to go over budget or overlook big things that will affect the success of the project in the long run.
We also offer interior landscaping, which is definitely something to take into consideration as it really helps to freshen up a space by enhancing the overall design and appearance. Some things to consider when choosing indoor plants are which direction your windows are facing, whether there will be full light or partial light exposure, and what type of plants will be able to thrive in your unique environment. It is also really amazing to see the difference it makes in the overall appearance when the exterior landscaping matches the interior, and the flow that it creates throughout the entire property. By incorporating interior and exterior facets, it also helps with prioritizing and dictating importance. Do a lot of clients come through the space you are planning for your plants? Will they get in the way or interfere with day-to-day operations? Are the plants you want going to detract from what the design of your space is trying to achieve? For example, a spa generally has a calming atmosphere, so you wouldn’t want plants that are bright or exciting. Also, we take pride in being very honest and up-front with our clients about the requirements for maintenance so that we match the right plants with the care that the client will be able to provide. An example of this is the recent push for more organic and natural features. Incorporating native plants can lower your water costs and often will require less maintenance. With a good design, you will still have aesthetically pleasing look but not the high maintenance cost at the end, which will free up more money for other aspects of your project. With commercial remodels, both the client’s needs and the needs of their customers are important.
Whenever a business is doing any kind of commercial remodeling, it is essential to keep the purpose of that project in mind. If the purpose is to benefit the employees, by creating an outdoor break space for example or improving the work environment, that interior/exterior will look a lot different than a boutique that requires foot traffic and wants to attract potential customers. Always consider what you want your space to say, and work with someone who is knowledgeable and will focus on your requirements in order to hone in on exactly what you need to realize your goals.”
Your building’s systems may also need to be addressed during a commercial remodel, whether to improve them as the main goal or as a result of other factors related to the endeavor.
Pat Killeen of Engineered Controls advises, “All commercial buildings have some form of Control System currently in use. A control system may consist of a simple thermostat controlling a roof top unit or fan coil unit to a very large centralized building automation system with a dedicated network of sophisticated microprocessor controllers hosting a variety of inputs and outputs in order to control a centralized heating and cooling plant. The more important questions to consider are: 1) What level of technology does the building owner desire in their facility, 2) What is the building owner’s budget, 3) How important is energy conservation or “green” technology to the building owner and finally 4) Will the building owner be capable of operating a highly complex Control System.
Building Control Systems have changed dramatically over the past 20 years. In the 80’s, pneumatic controls systems which utilized compressed air systems to position (open or close) valves and actuators that controlled hot or chilled water and air movement in most all commercial buildings. But today with the advent of micro-electronics, highly complex digital control systems are used widely in the construction and retrofit industry. Today it is very common for small- to medium-sized buildings to utilize the same Building Control System technology that was only reserved for the larger building in the past.
Additionally, there are several trends that are beginning to surface in the control industry. We live in an era of where today’s buildings of any size and shape can become intelligent buildings. With open protocol technology, they can connect multiple subsystems together, on one network, rather than operating them all independently – maximizing energy efficiency, lowering maintenance costs and providing centralized building control.
So several of these important developments are:
1. First, the digital control systems of today need to utilize some form of open protocol language to communicate data to all the devices in the control system network. Common open protocols we use today are BACnet, LonWorks and Modbus.
2. Secondly, it will be very important that the control system is capable of integrating multiple control systems to a common network. This is referred to as network integration, or it is also sometimes referred to as a control systems level of system interoperability. Either way it describes how intelligent building networks can be connected together (remember BACnet, the open system protocol comments earlier). The goal of this technology is to monitor and control all aspects of a building’s heating and cooling system and beyond.
3. Finally, the Building Control system must be capable of providing centralized control of other building subsystems beyond the traditional HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning). Centralized and integrated lighting control systems, indoor air quality (CO and CO2), security, card access, video surveillance systems, revenue based (and non-revenue) parking access systems, utility metering and finally water management control.
These are just a few examples of how a building’s Control System can be integrated together into one centralized Building Automation System. For those who will be considering a commercial remodel in the future, I highly recommend looking into updating their control system at the same time.”
You will likely experience a time of transition during your commercial remodeling project where things are getting moved around like crazy. During this time it may be a good idea to utilize a storage facility so that your important and expensive items are safe from damage or theft and in one place where they can be easily located, but off-site where they aren’t in the way. Tom Friedman of Strong Box Storage says, “We have many different sizes of units, and each employee or individual who needs access to the unit is provided with a separate access code in order to track exactly who was in and out and at what times. We are a secured facility and can set up a unit for a customer on-site without any prior notification, or we can schedule a unit to be available for future dates. As far as payment, we are very flexible. We take all forms of payment–cash, check, and personal or company cards–and you can pay at our facility or online. You can also set up payment for a lump sum or payments on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis. Another one of our features that offers flexibility and is popular among our commercial clients is 24/7 access. Our facility offers lighted and paved roadways to make it easy and safe to get around, and if there are any problems we have staff on site six days a week. You can access your unit at whatever time is most convenient for you with no hassle, and we also have U-Haul trucks for rent if you need to move items to and from our facility and you don’t have access to an appropriate vehicle.”
When it comes to businesses and commercial space, every inch matters and if it doesn’t have a purpose, you can create one with a little agency. What also matters is the impression you are making on those who pass by, work in, or visit your establishment. There are many improvements and updates that are easy to make, and will dramatically affect the look and feel of your commercial space. Many updates also allow for increased efficiency, either in your building itself or of your operations.