Retail Construction Project questions

[Victor Kapustin]

Hi all, I've got raw, commercially zoned land at an intersection near me that is perfect for 6,000 to 9,000 sq ft, 3-4 unit Retail Strip center.  I would need to buy 1 - 1.3 acres of this land to make this work.  I'm meeting with Commercial Lenders this week to discuss financing options.  I'm turning to this community for some guidance on the below general questions:

1)  Is this a bad economic time to be considering a new Retail construction? (even if there is demand for it in the area?)

2) For those that have done something similar in the recent past, besides the Land purchase and construction costs, what were the other big ticket line items from the project (Legal, Engineering, Architecture, CPA, etc)?  I'm trying to build an accurate Project estimate.

3) What was the sequence of events from Project conception to completion? (pay for engineering/architecture drawings, city approval, loan qualifying, land purchase, etc)

4) How long did it take from buying the land to a fully cash-flowing property? 

Thanks!

-Victor

[Victor Kapustin]

Quote from @Henry Clark:

Post what you have so far on your project lists

 Hi Henry, below are my rough estimates.  I have not paid for anything yet, but imagine the next step would be buying a land survey and engineering/architectural drawings.  And then getting General contractor estimates for the construction.

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Land ($18/sq ft): $941,000

Construction ($180/sq ft): $1,260,000

Engineering/Architect fees: $70,000

Legal/CPA/Permits/etc: $40,000

Cost of acquiring finishing equipment (security/signage): $30,000

Marketing/Insurance/and other misc: $30,000

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Total Project cost: $2,371,000