Steel Building Construction in Northern Colorado

[Joshua Fulenwider]

Any one doing any commercial construction?  I'd love to here general advice or potential pitfalls to avoid.  I am looking at purchasing a few acres and building 5000-7000 square foot steel building on it.  It's currently commercial zoning and I would like to pursue getting it zoned light industrial to attract some of the oilfield related tenants that are in Northern Colorado.  Also requires all utilities to be run to the property but they are close by.

Based on the numbers I've been able to put together so far my projected costs are between $400k-$550k with an as-completed value between $900k and $1.1MM.  Rents on a shop this size will be between $6k to $10k per month.

Here are some of my questions:

• Do you have a rule of thumb when projecting construction costs? I spoke with one builder and off the top of his head he said best case scenario it would be $25/sqft but more than likely it could range between $35-$50/sqft.
• Any issues obtaining water in Northern Colorado?  I know residential taps in the country are about $25k-$32k.  Is this accurate for commercial as well?
• Anything I should be aware of in bringing out utilities?
• It is situated along a busy road and does not currently have any turn off.  Do I need to do something special for this access?  Road has a median and I think the property would be more valuable with access across the median.  Any estimates on cost?

Thanks in advance for any advice.