• Should You Build From Scratch or Expand Existing?

    Evaluate These 3 Primary Factors

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3 Factors to Consider

Many business and operations outgrow their original facilities, leading to a big decision for many owners: Do you purchase a new building, or do you expand your current building? It’s a complicated question that’s dependent on several factors. Let’s a take a closer look at what should be considered and how steel buildings can determine the best answer for your situation.

Location

The location of your original facility was once carefully considered. You considered the neighborhood, proximity to competition, potential for growth, traffic patterns, entrances, exits, and any other factor that might affect business success. We recommend undergoing a similar assessment when expansion or relocation is under consideration. If your current facility is thriving, and you’re comfortable with the future of your business location, expanding could be the right answer. This would allow you to build on your current success and avoid the headaches of uprooting your business.

If the initial assessment of your business location proved to be inaccurate or your neighborhood has changed, building from scratch could be an appropriate solution. Moving your business could give you a fresh start and facilitate business in a more advantageous location. Building from scratch also would allow you to design a building better suited for your operations.

Land

We discussed the building itself, but many times, the decision to expand or build from scratch is dictated by the amount and cost of land that is available. If you own enough land, expansion is a logical choice given that steel buildings can be easily modified to fit your needs. This cuts costs since you already own the land, and speeds up the project timeline since you won’t need to find a new location.

If you don’t have room to expand but have deemed it necessary in order to grow your business, building from scratch is a logical solution. Building from scratch gives you the opportunity to buy land that not only fits the future of your operation, but also will allow you to expand if needed. Building will require more research and analysis, but building from scratch is capable of providing a new opportunity or capitalizing on previous success.

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Local Considerations

No matter what decision is made, you will have to look into the local building codes and regulations. Whether you’re expanding or building from scratch, these codes could limit the size and functionality of your newly designed facility. If you’re confused or frustrated, our pre-construction package offers affordable due diligence. Here’s a few other local factors you may want to consider:

Local Municipalities

Most cities have a master plan that has been in place for decades. The master plan details what areas will be zoned commercial, residential and mixed use. Hidden within these designations there are things like setbacks, height restrictions and landscaping requirements. The city's master plan is usually done in accordance with taxes the city will need as it grows, which makes changing the zoning difficult but not impossible.

Apply for New Zoning

If a parcel of land is zoned commercial and you want to have it rezoned mixed use for example, you can apply for a change in zoning at the city planner's office. You will need to present a compelling case as to why it is in the community's best interest for the change to be made including the effect it will have on the city's income (taxes). Luckily you can build these changes into your land purchase agreement as contingencies.

What Matters to You?

Factors such as commute time, the community you want to be a part of and your family should all be part of the decision making process. Your personal factors will be different than anyone else's, but these factors should be weighed equally against the more common considerations we have discussed above.

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