Why Baltimore Commercial Tenants Should Get a Contractor's Price Before Signing a Lease

Written by:

Steve Marcinuk

Date:

27 Jul 2026

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Most small commercial tenants in Baltimore sign their leases before ever speaking to a contractor. By the time they learn what their buildout will actually cost, the terms are already locked in. According to Evan Roberts, Managing Partner at Clipper Construction, a five-year-old commercial general contractor based in Baltimore’s Locust Point neighborhood, this sequencing problem creates friction for tenants, landlords, and the general contractors caught in the middle, and it remains one of the most persistent and avoidable mistakes in small-format retail and food-service construction.

About 60 to 70 percent of Clipper’s current work is retail-focused, with additional projects in industrial and healthcare. From that position, Roberts has a clear view of where small commercial buildouts go sideways, and it usually starts well before construction begins.

The Lease-Before-Pricing Problem

The core issue is straightforward: tenants negotiate letters of intent and leases that include tenant improvement allowances without knowing what the actual construction will cost. By the time a contractor is brought in, the financial framework is already set.

Roberts says he wishes tenants would get a price from a contractor first, and that landlords would insist on it. Without a real number, neither party can determine what constitutes a fair tenant improvement allowance. “When you’re trying to negotiate an LOI or a lease, and you are negotiating tenant improvement allowances, how does anybody make a decision around what’s fair and equitable without knowing what it’s going to cost first?” he says.

His advice is direct: call a contractor before signing. “Once the lease is signed, it’s too late,” he says.

For landlords, insisting on early contractor involvement grounds the TI negotiation in real numbers rather than assumptions – protecting both sides from a mismatch between allowance and actual cost.

Landlords Are Being Asked to Pay More

Roberts notes a shift in how tenant improvement conversations are playing out. Landlords are increasingly being asked to cover more of the buildout cost than they historically have, particularly for high-quality tenants.

“I do think that a lot of landlords are being asked to pay for more than they historically have, especially for good quality tenants,” he says.

Costs Are Stable, With One Exception

Despite national conversation about construction cost inflation, Roberts characterizes pricing in Baltimore’s small commercial buildout segment as relatively stable over the past year. Standard year-over-year increases – material costs, employee raises – are being passed through to projects, but nothing unusual.

The one notable exception: a period of elevated diesel prices. “At one point in the last year when we were experiencing some $5.50 diesel fuel, that did have some implications for cost that we had to be cognizant of,” Roberts says.

For tenants budgeting a buildout, this stability means that cost estimates obtained early in the lease negotiation process are unlikely to shift dramatically by the time construction begins, reinforcing the case for getting a contractor’s number before signing.

The Storefront Glass Gap

When asked which trade is hardest to source reliably in Baltimore, Roberts pointed to storefront glass installation, a niche where multiple companies operate but none stand out for quality or responsiveness.

“There’s a good number of companies that do it. No one is particularly good,” he says. “If you’re just communicative and responsive, I think you would do very well in that because it’s a very underserved market.”

The observation connects to Roberts’s broader view on what separates good subcontractors from problematic ones: communication during challenges. “The best subcontractors are the ones that communicate during those challenges and work together with us to try and solve problems instead of putting their head in the sand,” he says.

Outsized Logistical Problems

Roberts describes a recent 600-square-foot ice cream shop project that illustrates a challenge tenants rarely anticipate: in very small spaces, there is nowhere to store materials. His team approached the project the same way they handle larger jobs, but the lack of a staging area forced them to rethink how to coordinate multiple subcontractors working simultaneously.

“Without a place to put everything, we found ourselves really struggling to figure out how to stage materials and have multiple subcontractors working at the same time,” Roberts says.

For tenants leasing compact spaces, this means construction timelines may not scale down proportionally with square footage – a smaller footprint does not necessarily mean a faster or cheaper buildout.

What Architects Are Signaling

Roberts reports hearing from architects – whom he describes as “the canary in the coal mine” because they are the first professionals engaged on new projects – that work is starting to slow. He notes this is counter to Clipper’s own experience, as the firm is currently building backlog.

“What I’m hearing from architects is that things are starting to slow down a little bit,” he says. “Everyone’s busy right now, but we’re starting to book backlog. My understanding is not everybody is having that same experience.”

For tenants planning buildouts in Baltimore over the next year, signals from architects suggest that contractor availability may loosen, which could improve scheduling flexibility and competitive pricing for smaller jobs.

About the Expert: Evan Roberts is Managing Partner at Clipper Construction, a Baltimore-based commercial general contractor founded five years ago and focused primarily on retail, industrial, and healthcare buildouts.

This article is based on information provided by the expert source cited above. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or real estate advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any real estate or financial decisions.