Building a permanent shop/office questions

We are putting together a plan to start saving for a permanent shop/office location that we build and own over the next 2-4 years. We have currently rented the past 3 years. I am seeking advice and insight from someone who has gone down this path. I have a rough idea on costs for land, metal building, concrete etc. We are thinking a 40x80 metal building that has bay doors on both ends so trucks can drive straight through with an attached 15x20 office area. We are thinking about starting out with a gravel floor and then piecing in the concrete section by section over time as we save the funds. Any advice, input, or possible issues you may have ran into doing a project like this would be appreciated.

I’ve never have gone done this path . But the suggestion I will give you and it depends much on area is to check first all the zoning laws in your city/county before buying a piece a land . The best way to get this info is to talk to a couple of good architects , realtors, builders and you can check with the city builders office also . You don’t want to buy a piece of land and them find out later that you can’t build what you want on it .

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yes… and I have consulted with a couple service companies in my area that have gone down this road. I have heard you pay out the butt for hooking up utilities if you buy land outside city limits. Thanks for the advice

Are you interested in having tenants? I wonder if the potential for additional revenue would increase the options for financing?

Zoning: I have worked as a City Planner for years and held other municipal jobs. Please do not rely on realtors or builders vague interpretations. Study the regs and verify with the appropriate municipal officials. Involvement with Chambers of Commerce can also help with the networking and synergy for this type of a project.

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We just moved into a similar facility to the one you’ve described. We looked at building, but it’s a slow process, as you know. Too many zoning, septic, and utility issues. As stated by the others, winding up with an unusable piece of land for your use is a real risk.

In the end we purchased a suitable building (held by a separate LLC we formed, to which our company makes lease payments). We do have room to lease out a few bays, but we’d like to settle in first, and see if WE need more space than we think. I recommend you get the concrete poured ASAP, if you can. The dust alone can be an issue (rags, etc), as we learned at our previous shop.

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We have. It’s not something we have really focused on. Obviously this would add costs to the project and I worry that commercial real estate is hard to fill. I see a lot of empty buildings around town. But the more I think about it now I am starting to like the possibilities

That is a great idea. We have already contacted several local chambers. They are helping us find a suitable lot to buy in the area. They have been a ton of help putting us in touch with city & county administrators etc.

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Please feel free to ask me for any assistance with municipal procedures and “jargon”. I always enjoyed working with people on development projects and I think that you will find that to be the case with most municipal officials.
Do you have a preference for design-build or design-bid-build? Each course of action (COA) has specific strengths and weaknesses. Identifying the best COA at this stage of the process can save you time and effort at later stages.
Sorry to hear that there a lot of empty buildings around town, but I bet that the owner occupied commercial properties have a higher occupancy rate. Perhaps if your building was set up for other service providers that worked in related areas (carpet/upholstery cleaners, landscapers, pest control, janitorial, etc.) there could be some synergy.

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What’s the point of having an office? Keep gear/trucks there?

We are keeping that option open as well.

A lot of reasons to have an office but here are a few.

  1. We started out in our garage the first 5 years, but having an office makes you legit with employees
  2. Owning an office is an asset for your company and could possibly be an income producing asset
  3. city zoning laws would not allow us to operate a business our size out of our house.
  4. We have 3 work vehicles, a trailer, 5-8 employee vehicles plus our own. Neighbors and the city would just love that clogging up the street
  5. Office location and expenses are right offs
  6. We are building an office staff, goal is to have a couple people on the phone doing sales in the near future.
  7. Biggest reason for me personally… Separating business from home. You have no idea how big of an impact it is till you do it.

Lots of other reasons but yeah

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a chiropractor friend of mine moved out of his mall location years ago. he bought an old kfc location, tore down the building and built a mini mall i think it had 5 spots.
after awhile he took over the spot next to his. his wife opened a business in 1 spot.
the building was paid for in 5 years and they still get some income from the building itself.
owning property is great way to go, when i had my retail locations i ended paying close to a million in rent while my chiro buddy earns money for nothing every month and has an asset of probably around a million current value.

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Our rent currently in about $8000 a year. We are on the verge of outgrowing our current location. So instead of signing a long term lease on a building that’s probably going to cost us at least 12 grand a year, we would rather build and own. Plus if we were to sell the company down the road that’s a huge asset to have.

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Slowly, slowly setting up. Take it from me: avoid moving in on the MIDDLE of the busiest season. Oh well. How’s your search coming?

n

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alright, I’m jealous :grin:

That is a nice shop area. Thats what I am wanting next. Something big enough to park all vehicles and equipment in with a little room to spare.