For commercial brokers
Permit Due Diligence for Commercial Brokers
The deal that dies at week six almost always dies over something that was knowable in week one — an occupancy classification, an open permit, a build-out that costs three times what the tenant assumed.
- Pre-LOI feasibility on change of use
- Open permit and violation searches
- Realistic build-out and permit timelines
- Answers fast enough to keep a deal moving
Where commercial deals actually break
- Change of occupancy — a tenant wants to put a restaurant in a former retail space, or a medical suite in an office. The classification change can pull in fire separation, sprinklers, additional exits, restroom and accessibility upgrades that nobody priced.
- Open permits on the property — discovered late, they hold up closings and become a seller-buyer argument at the worst possible moment.
- Code violations — open enforcement cases attached to the property that the seller may not have mentioned.
- Parking and zoning — the intended use requires more parking than the site has, and there is no fix.
- Build-out timeline — a tenant plans a March opening based on a permit timeline nobody checked with the jurisdiction.
- Deferred and delayed work — a building whose recertification is overdue, which becomes the buyer’s problem on day one.
The pre-LOI call
The most useful thing we do for brokers costs nothing and takes fifteen minutes. Give us the address, the existing use and the intended use, and we will tell you what a change of occupancy is likely to trigger and roughly what that means for time and money.
Sometimes the answer is that it is straightforward. Sometimes it is that this particular space will never work for this particular tenant, and it is far better for everyone that you know that before the LOI than after the lease.
Not because we save deals — though we do — but because being the broker who identified the problem early is a completely different professional position from being the broker whose deal collapsed over it in week six.
Due diligence, properly
On a property under contract we can pull the permit history, identify open permits and violations, flag recertification status, and tell you what the jurisdiction has on file versus what the seller has represented. Those are frequently different documents.
You get it in writing, in language you can forward to a client or a lender.
And then the actual work
If the deal proceeds and the tenant needs a build-out, we do that too — commercial plans, MEP, life safety, permitting, inspections and the certificate of use at the end. One firm from feasibility through opening, which means the person who told you it would work is the person who has to make it work.
Questions about this service
What does a feasibility check cost?
The initial conversation is free and usually enough to tell you whether there is a problem. A written due diligence report on a property under contract is quoted per property and priced against how much history there is to pull.
How fast can you turn due diligence?
Faster than a deal timeline, in most cases. Tell us the deadline on the first call. Records requests at some jurisdictions have their own pace and we will tell you where that is a real constraint.
Can you give my tenant a build-out estimate?
We can scope the permitting and design side and tell you realistically what the approval path involves. We are not general contractors and will not quote construction costs — but we will tell you when a tenant’s construction budget looks disconnected from the code requirements.
Do you work with the tenant or with me?
Either. Plenty of brokers introduce us and step back; plenty stay in the loop through opening. We will not go around you.
Talk to us about your portfolio
Tell us what you manage and what keeps coming up. We will tell you honestly whether we can help.
Services this usually involves
Commercial Plans
Build-out, change of occupancy and shell and core sets.
See the serviceCertificate of Use
The document tenants most often discover late.
See the serviceOpen Permit Search
Free directory for checking an address before you commit.
See the serviceRealtor & Closing Support
When a permit issue is holding up a closing date.
See the serviceReady to get your permit moving?
One call tells you which jurisdiction controls your project, what it will take, and what it will cost. Most of the time we can scope it on the phone.