Commercial Build-Outs and Renovations in North Charleston, SC
You've found a suite in North Charleston and the rent works. Now the question is what it takes to make it work for your business, and who pays for which part. That work is called tenant improvement (TI), build-out or fit-out; around the Carolinas you'll also hear upfit. 3 Rivers Commercial Construction builds tenant improvements for tenants, tenant-rep brokers and landlords. This page walks through how a TI usually goes here, before and after the lease is signed.
The suites we see questions about
Office suites in multi-tenant buildings, often second-generation, with ceilings, lights and ductwork the last tenant left.
Retail suites in strip centers along the main corridors, where storefront, restroom count and the rooftop unit tend to set the scope.
Warehouse-office units, where a tenant needs a front office, a restroom and a break area inside a mostly open shell, and the shop side stays plain.
In North Charleston, we've built out an MMA and jiu-jitsu training center off Rivers Ave.
For TI work elsewhere in the Charleston area, see tenant improvements in Charleston.
Medical, therapy and food-service suites
Some tenants need more from a suite than walls and finishes. A medical or therapy office adds sinks in exam or treatment rooms, more restrooms, sound control between rooms, and sometimes special electrical; a restaurant, bakery or coffee tenant adds a hood, a grease interceptor and state food-permit review. Those items change what the allowance has to cover, so raise them before the LOI is signed. Your design professional, the building department and the fire marshal decide what applies, and we price each one as its own line.
Settle the work letter before the LOI
The work letter (or lease exhibit) is where landlord work, tenant work and the tenant improvement allowance are spelled out. Bring it, or the landlord's draft, when we walk the suite. From it we price what looks like tenant scope versus landlord scope, so you can see whether the allowance covers the build-out or only part of it. The lease and your broker or attorney decide the actual split; this isn't legal advice. Upfit, TI and build-out are explained side by side in upfit vs. TI vs. build-out.
Questions specific to a warehouse-office TI
Where does the office sit relative to the dock or roll-up doors? Can the existing electrical service carry the office and the equipment at the same time? Does the office need its own HVAC, or can it share? Will turning storage space into office space count as a change of use? That last one is for your design professional and the City's building officials to answer, and it can add requirements for restrooms, exits and fire protection. We price the office side and the shell side as separate lines so each one is visible. On the shell side, we've also repaired bay doors at a distribution center.
What a TI scope usually includes
Demo of the old build-out; framing, drywall and ceilings; electrical, lighting and data rough-in; HVAC changes and new zones; plumbing for restrooms or a break room; finishes; and low-voltage. Electrical, plumbing and HVAC are done by our specialty trade partners. Restroom and accessibility items are listed as their own lines and priced once the design professional and the building department confirm what's required. Items nobody has picked yet, like flooring or fixtures, are carried as allowances.
Permits and timing in North Charleston
Most tenant improvements need drawings from an architect or engineer and a building permit. Inside city limits, that's the City of North Charleston; your design professional confirms the jurisdiction by the parcel. Review time, equipment lead times and the condition of what's already there tend to drive the schedule, so we name those risks in writing rather than promising a move-in date before plans and permits are in hand.
How a TI starts with us
Tell us the suite address, your use and your target timing. We'll reply by email with a few screening questions. If the project fits, we set up a consultation and walk the suite with you and your broker. Afterward you'll have the planning range in writing (Low, Likely and High, with what's in, what's out and what's on allowance), and that range isn't a bid. Once drawings exist, we level subcontractor pricing into one. See pre-construction and planning ranges and our Charleston-wide tenant improvements and upfits page.
Looking at the whole building instead of one suite? Owners and landlords should start at commercial construction in North Charleston, which covers new buildings, white-box refreshes, metal buildings and how we run a job.
Tenant improvement FAQ
How early should we call about a suite?
Before the LOI if you can. For projects that fit, a walk and a written planning range (not a bid) help you negotiate the allowance with real numbers instead of a guess.
Who pays for the tenant improvements?
It depends on the lease. The landlord may deliver some work and contribute an allowance; the tenant usually covers the rest. Your broker or attorney reads the work letter with you.
Do you work with our architect?
Yes. If you already have an architect, they design to code and to your needs, and we price and build to their drawings. If you don't have one yet, we can help you line up a design team you contract with directly.
Can you work around an occupied building?
Often, yes. Noisy demo and tie-ins in a multi-tenant building sometimes have to happen after hours, and that gets its own line in the planning range.
Signing a lease on a North Charleston suite soon?
Request a consultation and bring the work letter, or call 843-259-2980.
General information, not legal or code advice. The lease decides the landlord and tenant split; your design professional and the City of North Charleston set what your project requires.
Photo credits: “Montague Avenue” by Thomson M, CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), via Wikimedia Commons. “North Charleston Coliseum Aug2010” by Chris Pruitt, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0), via Wikimedia Commons