i30 Builders · Terrell, TX
What a commercial remodel costs in Terrell
Terrell splits between older downtown stock and newer retail near I-20, and food concepts land in both. The rate card does not change for the drive out here. What changes a Terrell number is which building you signed and whether the kitchen scope triggers a hood and a grease interceptor.
$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 Terrell 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 Terrell 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.
Cafe or coffee refresh, second-generation food space
$45 to $90/SF
$25,000 minimum
Taking over a space that was already a food business and changing the look, not the systems.
Cafe or bakery in a vanilla shell, no Type I hood
$140 to $200/SF
$85,000 minimum
The landlord delivers HVAC, a restroom and power. You build the cafe inside it. Electric ovens and espresso, nothing that renders fat.
Cafe or bakery from a cold shell, no Type I hood
$220 to $300/SF
$125,000 minimum
A concrete box with a water line and a panel. Every system in the space is yours to build.
Full-service restaurant, second-generation remodel
$100 to $160/SF
$40,000 minimum
An existing restaurant reworked where the hood, interceptor and gas are already in place and stay.
Full-service restaurant build-out from shell
$265 to $380/SF
$150,000 minimum
A full commercial kitchen and dining room built from a shell, with cooking that requires a hood.
Local Cost Drivers
What moves a Terrell number up or down
Hood and grease
A Type I hood with make-up air and a grease interceptor is the single largest swing in a Terrell food number. Most cafe and counter-service concepts never trigger it. A full-service kitchen always does. It is listed as an adder with a price rather than described as not included, because a reader told only what is excluded assumes the worst number.
Downtown electrical service
Older downtown Terrell buildings can carry service that will not support a commercial kitchen or a modern lighting and equipment load. A service upgrade is utility-coordinated and trade-quoted, and finding it after a lease is signed is expensive in a way that finding it on the walk is not.
Health review runs parallel
A food build-out that clears the building permit and then fails health review is a six-week problem. Plan review with the health authority, interceptor sizing and the finish schedule the inspector actually checks are run alongside the building permit rather than after it.
No travel premium
We work the I-20 and Highway 80 corridor continuously, so a Terrell job is not priced as a trip. A contractor based in Dallas either pads the number for the distance or treats the job as filler between larger work, and both show up in what you pay or when you open.
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 Terrell 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.
1,200 SF · Terrell
Coffee concept in second-generation space
$78,000
Front of house rebuilt, counter and millwork new, equipment reset into existing plumbing and electrical. No hood, which is why it sits in the refresh band rather than the shell band.
Standard: Cafe or coffee refresh, second-generation food space. At this size that standard produces $54,000 to $108,000.
1,800 SF · Terrell
Full-service restaurant, second-generation
$225,000
A previous restaurant taken over: hood reused after inspection, interceptor verified, front of house rebuilt and the kitchen reworked around existing rough-in. Second-generation is why this is not a shell number.
Standard: Full-service restaurant, second-generation remodel. At this size that standard produces $180,000 to $288,000.
1,100 SF · Terrell
Bakery in a vanilla shell near I-20
$185,000
Vanilla shell to open: all finishes, millwork, equipment connections, plus exhaust and make-up air. Upper-middle of the window because the equipment package drove the mechanical.
Standard: Cafe or bakery in a vanilla shell, no Type I hood. At this size that standard produces $154,000 to $220,000.
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 Terrell 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Type I hood system: hood, fire suppression, grease duct, fan, curb, makeup air | $45,000 to $75,000 | Any appliance producing grease vapor that is not UL 710B listed or ventless. |
| Exterior grease interceptor: tank, sawcut, trench, paving patch | $20,000 to $45,000 | No existing interceptor, or an existing one that is undersized for your fixture count. |
| Electrical service upgrade | $20,000 to $50,000 | The panel cannot carry an all-electric kitchen. |
| New rooftop HVAC unit with curb and duct | $25,000 to $50,000 | No rooftop unit, or one undersized for the kitchen heat load. |
Recent Work
What the finish level looks like.
Terrell Cost Questions
What owners here ask before they sign
Why is a restaurant so much more per square foot than an office in Terrell?
Because the mechanical, plumbing and electrical are a different animal. A full-service kitchen carries exhaust, make-up air, a grease interceptor, floor drains, equipment power and a finish schedule a health inspector signs off on. Published full-service restaurant build-out runs $265 to $380 per square foot against $65 to $95 for standard office tenant improvement. That is the kitchen, not the city.
Do I need a grease interceptor for a Terrell coffee shop?
Usually not, and that is the difference between a cafe number and a restaurant number. A counter-service coffee concept with no fryer and no grill typically avoids both the Type I hood and the interceptor. The moment a grill or fryer enters the equipment list, both are in scope. We confirm it against your actual equipment list before quoting rather than assuming either way.
Is older downtown Terrell space cheaper than newer space near I-20?
On rent, often. On build-out, frequently not. Older downtown stock can carry an undersized electrical service, no accessible restroom and mechanical at the end of its life, all of which become your scope. Newer retail near the interstate is more predictable. The difference runs $20 to $40 per square foot and it is worth knowing before the lease, not after.
How fast can you get to a Terrell site if something goes wrong?
Same day in most cases. We work this corridor constantly, so it is a short drive rather than a dispatch decision made forty miles west. That is a schedule input, not a slogan: the cost of a problem on a food build-out is almost always the days it sits, not the repair.
What is included in a Terrell number?
Mobilization, protection, labor, the materials named in the scope, permits and standard city inspections, coordination, cleanup and a one-year workmanship warranty on the listed scope. The hood, the interceptor and any service upgrade are called out as separate line items with prices rather than folded in, so you can see what your concept actually triggers.
Get a Terrell 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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