i30 Builders · Dallas, TX
What a commercial remodel costs in Dallas
Rates do not change between Dallas and the suburbs. What changes is the building and the queue. A Dallas number is driven by what the prior tenant left above the ceiling, whether your use triggers code work they never had to do, and how long review takes.
$7.5K to $150K+ · Permits and inspections in the price · Written scope before deposit
Published Rates
The rate card, and it is the same in Dallas as everywhere else we work
These rates do not move by city. Labor and material cost about the same across Dallas-Fort Worth and East Texas, so quoting Dallas differently would be a markup, not a rate. What changes locally is which scopes come up, how long review takes, and what the building you signed is hiding. That is the rest of this page.
These are budgeting ranges, not a quote. Scope moves the number more than square footage does, which is why each tier is a range rather than a rate.
Paint and flooring refresh
$10 to $25/SF
$7,500 minimum
Cosmetic update where the layout and the systems stay exactly where they are.
Light office TI
$35 to $65/SF
$15,000 minimum
A layout change in a space that already works: some walls move, systems mostly stay.
Standard office TI
$65 to $95/SF
$35,000 minimum
A full office fit-out: private offices, conference rooms, a break area, new finishes throughout.
Higher-end office TI
$95 to $140/SF
$60,000 minimum
The same fit-out with a finish package and detailing that a client-facing floor needs.
White box from cold shell
$55 to $85/SF
$35,000 minimum
Bringing a cold dark shell up to a leasable vanilla box for the next tenant.
Retail refresh
$15 to $38/SF
$10,000 minimum
A sales floor updated between tenants or between brand cycles.
Standard retail build-out
$65 to $105/SF
$35,000 minimum
A retail bay fitted out for a new tenant, including back-of-house.
Commercial restroom refresh
$8,000 to $12,000 each
Finishes and accessories replaced with the fixtures and plumbing left in place.
Single-user ADA restroom, full build
$18,000 to $30,000 each
A compliant single-user restroom built out, including the plumbing that gets it there.
Local Cost Drivers
What moves a Dallas number up or down
The review queue
Dallas review runs longer than the suburban cities around it. That costs schedule rather than scope, but schedule becomes cost the moment a firm lease date forces overtime. We pre-file so review overlaps scope finalization, and when the date still requires overtime it goes in the written scope as a number rather than surfacing later.
Second-generation space
Deep Ellum and Design District suites can hand you usable mechanical and electrical or a grid full of abandoned duct. That single question moves a Dallas number by $20 to $40 per square foot. It is answered by looking above the ceiling before the quote, not by a contingency percentage.
Multi-tenant access
Freight elevator windows, loading dock scheduling and after-hours building access are real line items in a Dallas tower or a shared building. They are priced as adders rather than absorbed, because absorbing them means padding every quote for a condition most jobs do not have.
The $50,000 line
Construction cost over $50,000 triggers Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation registration and an accessibility review by a registered specialist, filed before the permit application. It adds weeks, not dollars, and it is the most common reason a Dallas job quoted at four weeks of field work takes three months door to door.
Hidden conditions are excluded by default and surfaced as a change order: rot, mold, asbestos, lead, water-compromised framing, and code corrections unrelated to the scope. Nothing is absorbed quietly and nothing is discovered on the invoice.
Worked Examples
Three Dallas scopes, priced
Each figure is the rate above applied to the floor area, not a number picked to look good. The standard behind it is named so you can check the arithmetic.
1,400 SF · Dallas
Lease-renewal refresh, Uptown office suite
$29,500
Paint, carpet tile, base and minor drywall repair with the layout and the systems untouched. Lands mid-window because the ceiling and lighting stayed.
Standard: Paint and flooring refresh. At this size that standard produces $14,000 to $35,000.
1,800 SF · Dallas
Partition reconfiguration, professional suite
$88,000
Three offices opened into a team area, electrical modified inside the existing service, new flooring throughout. No new mechanical equipment, which is what kept it in the light band.
Standard: Light office TI. At this size that standard produces $63,000 to $117,000.
2,400 SF · Dallas
Client-facing finish-out, Design District
$268,000
Full ceiling and lighting package, glass fronts, millwork reception and a full mechanical rework. Upper window because the finish schedule drove it, not the floor area.
Standard: Higher-end office TI. At this size that standard produces $228,000 to $336,000.
What The Number Covers
Included, excluded, and priced separately
These are budgeting ranges, not a quote. Scope moves the number more than square footage does, which is why each tier is a range rather than a rate.
Included
- Labor
- Materials listed in the written scope
- Permits and standard city inspections
- Project management
- Mobilization
- Protection of adjacent areas
- Cleanup
- One-year workmanship warranty
Priced separately, named in the written scope
- FF&E and equipment
- Design and engineering
- Landlord fees
- Health-department plan review fees
- The category adders listed on this page
Hidden conditions are excluded by default and surfaced as a change order: rot, mold, asbestos, lead, water-compromised framing, and code corrections unrelated to the scope. Nothing is absorbed quietly and nothing is discovered on the invoice.
Common Dallas adders, with prices
These are the line items that most often sit outside the base range. Most scopes trigger none of them. They are listed with numbers so a reader who does trigger one is not left assuming the worst.
What moves the number
| Adder | Range | When it applies |
|---|
Phased or after-hours scheduling. Work sequenced around an operating business. Priced as a multiplier, typically 1.2x to 1.4x on the labor portion, rather than a fixed dollar amount.
Recent Work
What the finish level looks like.
Dallas Cost Questions
What owners here ask before they sign
Is Dallas more expensive than the suburbs for the same scope?
Not on the rate. Labor and material cost about the same across the metroplex, so quoting Dallas higher for identical scope would be a markup rather than a rate. Where a Dallas job does cost more is in the conditions: after-hours access in a multi-tenant building, longer review, and older stock with more behind the walls. Those are line items you can see rather than a city premium folded into the square-foot number.
What is the cheapest real Dallas commercial job you will take?
The lowest published minimum is $7,500. At that level you are in paint, flooring and minor repair with nothing moving. It still gets a written scope, a completion date and permits where the work requires them. What it does not get is a layout change, because moving a wall puts you in a different band.
How much does the Dallas permit queue actually cost me?
Directly, the permit fees, which are in the price. Indirectly, the schedule, and that is the number worth watching. If your lease commencement is firm and review runs long, the recovery is overtime and a larger crew at the end. We quote that as a cost up front when the date demands it rather than discovering it in week six.
Why is there a range instead of one number per square foot?
Because scope moves a commercial number more than floor area does. A 1,100 square foot office with paint, one partition, a door and carpet billed $7,800 on a real job. A smaller restroom and break room gut billed $62,000. Square footage did not separate those two. The range is the honest version of that, and the written scope is where it collapses to one number.
Do I pay for the estimate or the site walk in Dallas?
No. The walk and the written scope come before any deposit and before any money changes hands. What you get is a scope document with the price, the completion date and the exclusions named, and you decide from there.
Get a Dallas number for your actual space
Call (469) 721-0146, i30 Builders or send the space and the timeline. You get a written scope with a price and a completion date before any deposit. We respond within 1 business day.
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