Insights: your Tenant Improvement Toolbox

As contractors, one of the most common requests we hear from tenants requesting pricing is for an open ceiling with no grid and a sealed or stained concrete floor. This trend has been going on for years, especially in retail. If it were always cheaper, we could maybe understand, but often, it costs much more than some other options we might suggest. That said, CIC at one point wanted to start something called “Vanilla Amped” that would have served multiple benefits for landlords and property managers. We started marketing it in February of 2020; as you can imagine, our timing was not very good, we had to abandon that option by March.

What, you might ask, are the benefits of an empty ceiling and concrete floor, and what are the drawbacks?

Let’s start with who asks for it most: small retail establishments, often coffee shops. I see them built like this all over. Perhaps the style is what draws people to it, or the easy cleanup of coffee on a stained concrete floor. It certainly has a different look from VCT or LVT, those square floor tiles with nothing between them, or a regular ceramic tiled floor with grout between the tiles. The concrete can be epoxied, as well, which can create swirls and colors while adding a layer of floor protection. The open ceilings give people the impression of a larger space. For appearances and clean-up, the reasons coffee shops and retail establishments, especially, add this finish to the buildout makes sense.

The drawbacks? Noise and cost.

Ceiling grids with acoustical ceilings – hence the name – moderate sound transfer both within a space and between spaces. Those ceiling tiles are designed to dampen the sound. When they are removed and the ceiling is left open, and then if the floor is also a sound-reflective surface, noise is going to bounce off all these surfaces and be amplified. In a space meant to foster intimate conversations or focused laptop time like a coffee shop, these surfaces actually create an unusually loud environment. Some shops, you may notice, will add hanging fabrics, or add a layer of spray foam insulation across the ceiling to create more sound-absorbent surfaces. If a tenant wants a concrete or epoxy floor for both looks and easy clean-up, then creating a soft-surfaced ceiling to absorb some of the sound can make the experience for clients much better while retaining some of the desired appearance.

Additionally, if a space to be remodeled already has acoustic ceilings and carpet to be demo’d and replaced with an open grid and a whole new floor surface, that can add significantly to the build-out expense. The glue from the previous floor application needs to be removed as well as the covering. Demo’ing ceiling grid and grinding concrete floors to remove carpet glue adds to the buildout costs, so it’s not always the cheaper option.

The benefit? Flexibility.

Where surfaces like this can be beneficial to landlords of retail and long-term tenants is when they are used to create spaces that can be modified for much lower prices. What we were calling “Vanilla Amped,” meaning a vanilla shell with a special touch, was similar to what we described above but with special touches that can be added for much less than the cost of a full build-out. To start, acoustical clouds, which are smaller acoustical tile areas hung over spaces, can be added where needed for less than the cost of a full acoustic ceiling. Walls could be made movable, as well, following some of the magic created on stages, meaning rooms within the space could be rearranged without the cost of full demo, new framing, and drywall. For flooring, carpet squares with adhesive on the back now exist, and they can be removed and changed with much less effort and cost than traditional carpeting.

Whether creating spaces for shorter-term tenants or creating spaces that can be modified within a longer lease without shutting the business down for weeks, these options can create more flexibility in a layout and space design without adding significant costs. Then, when tenants change, it is also much less expensive to create a vanilla shell to market the space.

If you are curious and want to hear more, please let us know.