One of our current commercial projects at Englewood Construction is a new Farm & Fleet store we’re building in Romeoville, Ill. It’s a pretty cool ground-up commercial construction project for us because not only is it the first time we’ve worked with this national retail brand, but it’s also the very first Farm & Fleet store in the Chicago area.
When I started thinking about it, we’ve actually been responsible for a lot of construction “firsts” for different clients over the years – from working with brands expanding into a new market for the first time (we built the first Red Robin in Chicago, the first Portillo’s in Wisconsin and we’re currently working on the first Eatsa in Chicago), to helping companies introduce a new retail or restaurant concept (we helped roll out the Burger Works brand, and going back a few years Englewood even built the first-ever Structure, Discount Tires, Famous Dave’s, and Bath and Body Works stores).
Not surprisingly, whenever you do something for the first time there are bound to be challenges that pop up along the way. But from a construction standpoint, there are some key areas where choosing an experienced commercial construction firm can make all the difference in helping a “first” project go as smoothly as possible. Here’s how:
1. Taking the guess-work out of conceptual construction budgets: One of the biggest unknowns with a “first” construction project can be budget. After all, each new market has its own idiosyncrasies that can impact construction costs, and building a brand-new restaurant or retail concept for the first time almost always turns up some unanticipated budget surprises. The best way to limit those unknowns is by working with an experienced general contractor with extensive historical data to use as the basis for a sophisticated construction pricing model.
