Commercial tenant improvement in Seattle
A signed lease is the easy part. Turning a bare shell or a vacated space on Ballard Avenue, in a Capitol Hill mixed-use building, or a South Lake Union office floor into an open, code-compliant business is what we do. Retail, office, restaurant and medical/dental buildouts — designed, permitted and built to hit your open date and protect your free-rent window.
The lease work letter sets the rules — we read it first
Every commercial TI starts with two documents: your lease's work letter and the base-building reality. The work letter spells out what the landlord delivers, what tenant-improvement allowance you get, and what you owe back at lease end. The building tells us what's actually possible — available electrical service, HVAC tonnage, whether there's grease venting and gas for a kitchen, the existing restroom and ADA situation, and structural limits. We walk the space and the paperwork together so the design fits both your business and your lease obligations from day one.
Change-of-use: the trigger that quietly blows up budgets
The most expensive surprise in Seattle commercial work is change-of-use. Take a space built as retail and open a restaurant, a fitness studio, or a medical clinic, and the city reclassifies the occupancy — which can require additional exits, fire sprinklers, accessible restrooms, more ventilation and energy-code upgrades the previous tenant never needed. We screen for this during design, not during plan review, so it's a line on the budget you approved rather than a six-figure correction halfway through.
Restaurant, retail, office & medical — different rules, one builder
A coffee shop needs grease interceptors, hood venting and health-department coordination. A dental or medical TI needs medical-gas, lead shielding for imaging, and specialized plumbing. A retail storefront lives and dies on the entry, glazing and lighting. An office buildout is about acoustics, data and HVAC zoning. We've sequenced all of them, and we manage the specialty subs — health department, fire marshal, low-voltage — under one contract so you have a single number to call.
Built to protect your open date
Commercial schedules carry real money: every week past your build deadline can be a week of rent without revenue. We build the SDCI commercial permit timeline into the plan, phase work to keep occupied businesses running, push disruptive tasks to off-hours, and drive the final ADA and fire/life-safety inspections so the certificate of occupancy lands when you need to unlock the doors — not weeks after.
Typical Seattle pricing
| Buildout type | Typical Seattle range |
|---|---|
| Light office refresh / cosmetic TI | $50 – $90 / sq ft |
| Full office or retail buildout | $90 – $160 / sq ft |
| Restaurant / café buildout | $160 – $250+ / sq ft |
| Medical / dental TI | $180 – $250+ / sq ft |
| ADA & change-of-use upgrades | quoted per code review |
Prices in USD. Your landlord's tenant-improvement allowance offsets part of the cost. Every project gets a written, fixed-scope estimate after a free walkthrough.
Seattle commercial TI — your questions
Do I need a permit for a Seattle office or retail buildout?
Almost always. Most tenant improvements — new walls, plumbing, electrical, HVAC changes, storefronts or a change of use — require a commercial SDCI permit. Cosmetic-only work (paint, carpet, like-for-like fixtures) often does not. We tell you exactly which path your scope falls into at the walkthrough.
What is a change-of-use and why does it matter?
When you take a space designed for one occupancy (say, retail) and use it for another (a restaurant, gym or medical clinic), Seattle treats it as a change of use. That can trigger added egress, sprinklers, accessible restrooms, ventilation and energy-code upgrades. Catching it early in design prevents a mid-project budget shock.
How much does commercial TI cost per square foot in Seattle?
In Seattle, a light office refresh runs roughly $50–$90 per square foot, a full office or retail buildout $90–$160, and a restaurant or medical/dental TI $160–$250+ because of grease venting, plumbing, gas, specialized equipment and code requirements. Your tenant-improvement allowance from the landlord offsets part of it.
Can you keep my business open during the buildout?
Often yes. For occupied retail and offices we phase the work, build temporary partitions, control dust and noise, and schedule loud or disruptive tasks after hours so you keep operating and serving customers while we build.
Do you handle ADA accessibility upgrades?
Yes. Most Seattle commercial TIs trigger an accessibility review — accessible entries, restrooms, counters, clear paths and signage under the ADA and Washington code. We design the accessible path in from the start so it's not a costly correction at final inspection.
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