Here's a Quick Way to Estimate Construction Costs for Commercial Real Estate

Looking for a way to get an idea of the cost to build a new shopping centre? How about an apartment building? A retail store? Try www.rsmeans.com

Their Quick Cost Estimator is free to use, and provides a really good idea of the cost of construction for most projects. While the detailed reports (paid) are far more detailed, the free estimates are pretty good. I've used this site a number of times to come up with an estimate of replacement cost for properties we've had listed for sale. It's pretty powerful stuff to be able to say that the institutional property you have listed for $8.3M would cost over $18M to replace. What a bargain!

The site produces a cost estimate based on your location (major centres in Canada and the US), so it takes into account local labour costs, and provides a high, medium, and low range of estimates.

Some things to keep in mind:
1. The Quick Cost Estimator does not take into account the cost of the underlying land;
2. It does not include an estimate of brokerage or legal fees or most other soft costs for that matter;
3. It ignores the cost of financing.

This is a great little resource for getting started on your journey toward building your commercial real estate empire. Give it a try and let me know what you think of it.