A 7,500-square-foot suite in a new industrial building arrives as a shell: a slab, demising walls, a service stub and a roll-up door. A broker listing for three new buildings on Brantner Road in Evans describes exactly that size as the first available suite. Whatever your process needs beyond that, whether it is 400 amps of three-phase power, a compressed-air loop or a dock leveler, becomes the tenant improvement, and its cost and schedule are the lease risk you carry.
We build tenant improvements for operators who lease. That means working inside a landlord's rules: approved contractor lists, roof-penetration restrictions, insurance requirements, utility meter limits and a lease clause that defines what you must remove at the end. Early in the process we read the lease sections that govern alterations, and we build a scope that separates what the landlord owes, what the tenant owns, and what reverts when the term ends.
The work scales from a single new overhead door to a full production fit-out. A packaging line might need floor trenching and a washdown area. A contractor might need only an office buildout and yard fencing. Between those, we handle the common requests of a light-industrial tenant: power, lighting, racking-ready slab checks, restrooms and fire protection changes.
Schedule against the lease commencement date
A tenant improvement schedule is a countdown from the lease commencement date, and rent starts whether or not the space is usable. We work backward from move-in and identify the items with the longest lead times: electrical gear and transformers from the utility, rooftop units, overhead doors and dock equipment. Those go on order at permit, and we confirm the utility's timeline for new service in writing, since a transformer that arrives six weeks late stops the whole fit-out.
Permit timing varies by city. Fort Collins treats the 2024 International Building Code with local amendments as the current code for permits submitted on or after April 1, 2026, and keeps the 2021 codes available for reference until October 1, 2026. That kind of transition window can move a submittal date by weeks if the design team picks the wrong edition. We confirm which code governs your Fort Collins or other jurisdiction submittal before drawings are issued.
What a typical industrial fit-out includes
The base package includes demising or partition walls, an office or two, restrooms, a break area, lighting upgrades, and electrical distribution sized for the tenant's equipment. Mechanical work usually means makeup air, exhaust for process equipment, and a small conditioned zone for offices and electronics. Plumbing includes floor drains, trench drains where the process needs them, and a sink or eyewash station for safety compliance.
Floor and dock work are the other major items. We core-drill and patch slabs for equipment fastening and trenching, build equipment pads, and install dock levelers, seals and bumpers. If the tenant handles chilled product, we coordinate with refrigerated dock retrofits so the door, seal and floor transition are designed together. Fire protection changes follow whatever the new use does to commodity classification, such as storing plastics or aerosols.
Where tenant improvement budgets break
Power is the line that surprises most tenants. A building with 400 amps available can seldom support a plant that needs 1,200 without a utility upgrade, and the utility's lead time and fees are outside the contractor's control. We ask for the available service in the first walk and identify whether the transformer is landlord-owned or utility-owned, because that determines who pays.
The second driver is the building's age and condition. An older flex building may need roof, slab or sprinkler repairs before it can take the tenant's use, and a lease that says "as is" shifts those costs to you. We write an exclusions list into the estimate so there is a record of what we saw and what was not included. Landlord allowances typically cover a portion of the work, and we format invoices and lien waivers to the landlord's requirements so reimbursement is not delayed.
Reading the building before you sign
The best tenant improvement decisions are made before the lease is signed. We can walk a candidate building with you and check clear height, column spacing, slab thickness, dock count, floor flatness, roof condition and electrical service. A building that looks right on the listing can fail on a single number: a column grid that does not fit your line, a slab that cracks under your equipment, or a sprinkler design that cannot be altered for your commodity.
A new building such as those on Evans's Brantner Road offers new slab and roof but limited customization until the lease is signed, while older buildings offer lower rent and more repair risk. We compare candidate buildings on a total fit-out cost, not just rent per square foot, so you can pick the space that costs least over the term. If your lease includes restoration at the end, we price that obligation now.
Tenants we build for
Light-industrial tenants make up the bulk of this work, including fabricators, packaging operations, distribution tenants, contractors and light assembly. Food and beverage tenants add washable surfaces and sanitation requirements; see our work for the food and beverage sector for the finishes and drainage that apply. Automotive and EV suppliers need heavy floor drains, oil separators and compressed air, a profile we discuss under automotive and EV work.
If your operation is a small shop, a small-bay contractor condo may suit better than a leased suite, because ownership removes landlord restrictions on improvements. We compare lease and own paths on request, using the same improvement scope for both.
Price the fit-out before you sign the lease
Send us the listing, the lease draft and your equipment list. We will walk the space, flag power, floor and dock issues, and return a fit-out estimate you can set against the rent.
Common Questions
Who pays for a power upgrade in a leased industrial space?
It depends on the lease and on who owns the transformer and service equipment. Utility fees and lead time are separate from construction cost. We review the lease and the utility's requirements in the first walk, then give you a written split of who pays for what.
Can we start work before the lease commencement date?
Sometimes, through an early-access agreement with the landlord. It requires insurance, indemnity and sometimes a license fee. We recommend negotiating it during the lease process, because access to the space in the weeks before rent starts is the largest single schedule gain available.
Do we need to restore the space at the end of the term?
Many industrial leases require removal of tenant alterations, including slab trenches and roof penetrations, at lease end. We price restoration during the initial estimate so you can compare the true cost of different buildings. Keeping records of what we built makes the later restoration cheaper.
Which permit applies to a tenant improvement?
A building permit is needed for most structural, electrical, mechanical and plumbing alterations, and a change of use can add a certificate of occupancy review. The governing code edition is local. We confirm it with the building department before drawings are released.