After nearly 25-years of real estate investment and development across the country I can tell you that nowhere in the US are the costs and complexity of residential construction more shocking than in South Florida. The high cost of living is one factor, but lots of places have that same pressure. The main driver exponentially multiplying construction costs in South Florida are the unique building code requirements to equip homes to withstand potential hurricanes.

In our real estate development projects and Design + Build Management services we work with dozens of contractors and vendors on a weekly basis. It’s our job to know construction costs and the most efficient building methods.

Although Studio 818 is not the General Contractor on our client projects that’s a big benefit to you as the homeowner. We have no agenda except to design and manage the construction of your personally crafted dream home. Our process is focused on enhancing your lifestyle with the best design possible, streamlining the construction phases with detail-oriented project management, and protecting your interests throughout the project as the Owner’s Project Manager.. 

When you have a design team that intimately understands construction costs it translates into maximum control for you as the homeowner. This is especially true in a designer-led Design + Build Management process like STUDIO 818’s were we have you covered from concept to project completion.

Budgeting for your home renovation, remodel or new custom home in South Florida
. . . An Introduction 

There are dozens of factors that will directly impact your final investment. Things like site conditions, size of the home, level of finishes, timeline restrictions and overall project complexity are just few.

With that many variables in play it’s impossible to predict your actual final investment. But we can give you this VERY ROUGH baseline for construction budgeting in South Florida to at least calculate a ballpark baseline for your project.

While no professional takes on (and no client should contract on) a project based off cost per Sf., this metric does help provide a thumbnail for a reasonable overall investment to expect on a given project scope. The caveat is that any cost per Sf. numbers used to be up-to-date and relevant to the scope of a given project.

The numbers provided below are based off recently completed STUDIO 818 projects in the given work scope described. They are “ALL-IN” numbers including allocations for everything it will take to complete a given project. That means allocations for pre-planning, design and engineering work by professionals including STUDIO 818 Design + Build Management services, general construction, permitting, finishes, fixtures and equipment, site services like temporary fencing and portable toilets, etc.

• Whole-house interior design focused cosmetic renovation with minimal changes to your floor plan: you should figure your “all-in” projected investment will generally start at $125/Sf with mid-market finishes, fixtures & equipment. 
• Major home remodel with structural changes: with today’s material costs you can count on your “all-in” projected investment will generally start at $200/Sf. using mid-market finishes, fixtures & equipment
• New-construction (ground-up custom home); this is a tricky one for sure. Of course you can “build a house” for a few hundred dollars per Sf.. But that is for what would be considered an entry-level home in South Florida. Any home with a more unique architectural design and at least entry-level luxury level finishes, fixtures & equipment will generally start at $500/Sf “all-in.”

In each case above your overall investment will increase from there based on the design complexity and level of finishes, fixtures & equipment.

If you’d like to dig deeper and get a better understanding of the costs of building or renovating in South Florida we’ve published two eBooks:

• The Real Deal on Design & Renovation Costs in South Florida
• Seven Killer Flaws to Fix When Renovating a Home in South Florida

You can grab them both for free HERE.