Embarking on a commercial construction project in Chicago can feel like navigating a complex financial landscape. At Klasik Construction, we understand that your vision for a unique, functional space comes with a natural concern for its investment. Our commitment to preserving the integrity of design is matched by our dedication to unwavering financial transparency. We transform what can often be a source of stress—the estimating process—into a meticulously collaborative journey, designed to build your confidence and eliminate the specter of unforeseen financial variables. This is how Klasik guides you to clarity.
When you first approach a commercial general contractor, the question "What is your budget?" can feel daunting. You've likely invested time in conceptualizing your project, perhaps even with detailed proforma analyses or Return on Investment (ROI) calculations. You need more than just a number; you need clarity and a partner who understands your financial perspective.
At Klasik Construction, we demystify this process by clearly delineating three critical stages of financial clarity: your Preliminary Budget, your Revised Budget, and your Final Budget. Each phase is a carefully designed step in your project's financial evolution, ensuring you have the information you need, precisely when you need it, as you pursue tenant improvement projects, office building construction, or other commercial construction services with confidence.
Your project begins with an idea, a vision. The Preliminary Budget is your first tangible financial touchstone, allowing you to gauge the feasibility of that vision before making significant commitments. We recognize that clients, whether business owners, architects, or commercial property owners, approach us at various stages of readiness—some with developed pricing drawings, others with initial concepts. Regardless, we leverage all available information.
During Phase 1: Ground Work of our customer journey, we engage you with conversations that analyze your ideas, conceptual visions, and ask for any existing documentation. Drawing from our extensive historical financial data from comparable commercial construction projects in Chicago and the Midwest, we rapidly assemble a Preliminary Budget. This isn't a commitment; it's a complimentary financial viability assessment, typically completed within a few hours, designed to provide a transparent financial outline. Its accuracy, acknowledging the early stage, generally falls within a 10-20% variance, consistent with industry benchmarks for projects over $1,000,000.
This initial financial conversation is critical for you. It's where you gain early alignment with our insights, ground your conceptual investment in financial reality, and confirm if your cost expectations align with research and market conditions. If a significant gap exists, we address it transparently now, saving you valuable time and resources down the line.
Should our initial financial discussions align with your aspirations, we then propose an initial contract. This working agreement, supported by a small percentage deposit based on the Preliminary Budget, allows us to immediately mobilize our specialized pre-construction resources. It also secures your project's place in our upcoming construction schedule, dedicating the necessary expertise to advance your project effectively through its critical early phases.
What This Means For You:
With an initial contract in place, you move into the intensive Revised Budget phase, integral to Phase 2: Blueprint of our customer journey. This is where your vision truly begins to coalesce into a meticulously detailed financial plan. We understand the significant intellectual capital and time required for this stage, which is why your initial deposit supports our comprehensive analysis.
As your design team—your architects, interior designers, and engineers—advance the project toward permit submission, Klasik Construction acts as your trusted, dependable voice for all construction Q&A. We maintain continuous engagement, participating in meetings to stay intimately attuned to every design development. At a pivotal juncture, we present your Revised Budget, serving as a critical financial check-in point before your project is packaged for permitting.
This Revised Budget transforms preliminary scope items into granular detail, building a robust understanding of your project's goals and realities. While our aim is to significantly dial in accuracy beyond the preliminary stage, it's crucial to understand that increased design refinement often reveals opportunities for enhanced beauty and function, which can, in turn, influence costs. This second financial assessment is your opportunity for another reality check. If pricing trends necessitate, we collaboratively implement value engineering discussions and proactive cost controls. This strategic intervention safeguards your investment, preventing the daunting task of redesign or significant adjustments later—a common pain point for owners facing budget overruns at the brink of, or even during, construction (Phases 4 & 5 of our customer journey).
We purposefully build in conservative and protective contingencies within your Revised Budget. We are intimately familiar with the profound psychological and emotional impact that unexpected expenditures can have. The anxiety of unforeseen costs should never overshadow the excitement of creating your unique space. Our proactive financial buffering is a cornerstone of our concierge-level service, designed to shield your investment and protect your peace of mind from those inevitable "must-have" enhancements or unexpected site conditions that frequently emerge during building construction.
What This Means For You:
Your Final Budget represents the ultimate culmination of our transparent financial planning. This definitive document is issued to you once all finalized documentation and drawings—typically those submitted for city permitting—are in hand. While minor, mutually agreed-upon adjustments can still occur, this stage solidifies the definitive construction price, providing unparalleled certainty for your commercial construction or TI project.
Our comprehensive Final Budgeting exercise is an intensive process, often spanning weeks, sometimes months. We strategically execute this during the city's permit review period, a timeframe (typically 2-6 months, sometimes up to 12 months in certain municipalities) that we maximize to proactively prepare for construction. This deep dive into your project entails:
Upon receiving the city's comments on the drawings, we diligently make any necessary scope and price alterations requested for code compliance, zoning, historical preservation, or environmental factors. Once your permit is secured, we are ready to commence work under this finalized construction budget. Any subsequent deviations during Phase 4: Build or Phase 5: Wrap-Up of our customer journey, are meticulously tracked as Change Orders, ensuring ongoing transparency and financial accountability for you.
What This Means For You:
Navigating the financial landscape of commercial construction shouldn't be a source of anxiety; it should be a journey of clarity and confidence. Our meticulous three-phase financial planning process is profoundly influenced by Klasik Construction's leadership, including Justin Fara, and key team members having intimate ties to architecture and engineering processes. Having experienced projects from "that side of the desk" provides an invaluable, empathetic understanding of design intent, technical specifications, and the nuanced challenges faced by architects and designers. This architectural fluency allows us to integrate seamlessly with your design team, anticipating complexities and optimizing solutions from the earliest financial projections.
Through this poignant process, we cultivate a foundational relationship built on communication and trust—principles genetically embedded in Klasik Construction's DNA. This empowers your project to proceed with exceptional fluidity and efficiency, ensuring an enjoyable experience for all stakeholders. This is how we, as dedicated commercial general contractors in Chicago commercial construction, consistently deliver a concierge-level customer experience on every project, embodying our mission: "we are what people want construction to be."
By entrusting Klasik Construction with your next commercial construction project, you are choosing a partner dedicated to clarity, empirical precision, and delivering "beautifully built architecture" that honors your vision, respects your investment, and stands as a testament to unparalleled craftsmanship.
How ready are you to get to work?
About the Author
Justin Fara is the founder and president of Klasik Construction, which he established in 2019 to bring architectural vision and construction execution into perfect alignment. With a background as a licensed architect, Justin witnessed firsthand how often contractors compromised design intent and project reliability. Determined to change the industry standard, he built Klasik Construction to deliver projects that are architecturally faithful, built to the highest standards, and completed on time and on budget. His dual expertise in architecture and construction allows him to bridge the gap between design creativity and practical delivery, offering clients a uniquely trustworthy and detail-driven partner.
.png)
.png)
.png)
