Many things—from a cup of coffee to tickets to a ballgame to a month’s rent—are expensive in New York City and San Francisco.
Add construction costs to the list. A report from the CBRE's Valuation & Advisory Services found that new office space core and shell construction costs are highest in the two coastal cities.
In New York, new office construction costs between $500 and $550 per sf, as of Q3 2015, the highest amount of the cities studied. San Francisco was second, with costs between $350 and $400 per sf.
Boston ($280 to $320 per sf), Seattle ($250-$300), Chicago ($240-$290), and Houston ($220-$270) finished the list.
“These numbers are for prices associated with the direct hard construction costs, and the ranges do not include acquisition costs or indirect soft costs,” said Robert Barone, of CBRE’s Valuation & Advisory Services, in a statement. “Indirect soft costs, which include costs for things such as architect/engineering fees, legal, administration, marketing, financing, FF&E and tenant improvements, can represent an additional 30% to 40% of the direct hard costs ranges.”
In addition, New York ($70.54 per sf, per annum, as of Q3) and San Francisco ($67.33) had the highest asking rents for offices, too.
Related Stories
75 Top Building Products | Dec 12, 2019
Top Building Envelope Products for 2019
Sto's beetle-inspired exterior coating and Dörken Systems' UV-resistant vapor-permeable barrier are among the 28 new building envelope products to make Building Design+Construction's 2019 101 Top Products report.
Contractors | Dec 9, 2019
Layton Construction to join the STO Building Group
Merger will expand both firms’ geographic reach and services.
Big Data | Dec 4, 2019
AEC data's coming out party
AEC firms are finally putting to use project information they’ve been storing in their computers for years.
Building Owners | Dec 2, 2019
What building owners and AEC teams need to know about New York’s Climate Mobilization Act
On April 18, 2019, the New York City Council passed the Climate Mobilization Act, a suite of laws aimed to meet the city’s commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
Multifamily Housing | Nov 7, 2019
Multifamily construction market remains strong heading into 2020
Fewer than one in 10 AEC firms doing multifamily work reported a decrease in proposal activity in Q3 2019, according to a PSMJ report.
Contractors | Nov 5, 2019
Updated AIA contracts clarify the role of construction managers
The revised documents refine how CMs serve as general contractors or project advisers.
Architects | Oct 29, 2019
Top takeaways from the Lean Construction Institute Congress 2019
More than 1,600 Lean experts gathered in Texas this month for LCI Congress 2019. Here are key takeaways from the event.
Giants 400 | Oct 25, 2019
Top 55 Airport Sector Construction Firms for 2019
Hensel Phelps, AECOM, Turner, Skanska, and PCL top the rankings of the nation's largest airport terminal sector contractors and construction management firms, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2019 Giants 300 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 24, 2019
Top 80 Retail Construction Firms for 2019
PCL, VCC, Whiting-Turner, Shawmut, and W.E. O'Neil top the rankings of the nation's largest retail sector contractors and construction management firms, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2019 Giants 300 Report.
Contractors | Oct 24, 2019
Get them while they’re young: programs that promote the construction industry target students
Turner uses one of its jobsites in Nashville to immerse middle-school teachers in the ins and outs of building.