You signed a 10-year lease for what seemed like the ideal warehouse space for your construction equipment storage. The rent was reasonable, the location was perfect, and your realtor assured you it was zoned for industrial use. But three months after moving in, you received a cease and desist order from the city.
The problem? While the property is zoned industrial, local ordinances prohibit parking commercial vehicles of certain weights overnight. Your excavators, cranes, and dump trucks are now illegal. You’re facing substantial daily fines until you relocate, and your lease has no escape clause for zoning violations.
This disaster happens to construction companies every month. Generic real estate attorneys focus on square footage and rental rates. They miss the construction-specific issues that can destroy your business operations and force expensive relocations.
Construction businesses have unique property requirements that residential and general commercial real estate attorneys simply don’t understand. Your operations involve heavy equipment, hazardous materials, noise generation, and commercial vehicle storage that create legal issues other businesses never face.
The hidden problem: Properties can be zoned “industrial” or “commercial” but still have restrictions that prohibit construction business operations. Municipal codes often regulate noise levels, vehicle parking, equipment storage, and material handling separately from basic zoning.
Construction-specific issues:
Real consequences: We’ve seen construction companies forced to relocate after months of operations, losing security deposits, moving costs, and business continuity while facing ongoing lease obligations for unusable space.
The hidden danger: Construction companies often need properties with previous industrial use, but these properties frequently have environmental contamination that creates massive cleanup liability for new owners.
What most contractors don’t realize: Environmental liens transfer with property ownership, making you responsible for cleanup costs that can far exceed the property’s value. Previous owners’ contamination becomes your legal and financial responsibility.
Construction-specific risks:
The operational reality: Construction businesses need heavy equipment access, high-capacity electrical service, and loading capabilities that many properties can’t support.
Common problems that destroy construction operations:
After 17+ years working with construction companies, I’ve seen how real estate mistakes can destroy successful contractors. Construction businesses have unique property needs that residential and general commercial attorneys simply don’t understand. A warehouse that works for an office supply company can be completely unusable for a construction operation.
– Karalynn Cromeens, Managing Partner
Environmental Cleanup Catastrophes. Environmental liability can bankrupt construction companies overnight. We’ve seen soil contamination cleanup costs reach millions for properties purchased without proper environmental due diligence.
Forced Business Relocations. When zoning or operational restrictions shut down your business, you face double costs: ongoing lease payments for unusable space plus the cost of finding and moving to compliant property. Relocation costs for construction companies can be substantial.
Lost Equipment and Operational Capacity. Properties with access limitations, utility insufficiencies, or storage restrictions can strand expensive equipment and shut down profitable operations. Daily operational losses during forced shutdowns add up quickly.
Regulatory Violations and Fines. Operating construction businesses in non-compliant properties triggers ongoing regulatory violations with daily fines until compliance is achieved or operations cease.
Your challenge: Standard real estate due diligence doesn’t address the operational requirements and regulatory compliance issues specific to construction businesses.
Our solution: We conduct construction-focused due diligence that evaluates zoning compliance, environmental risks, access capabilities, and utility capacity specifically for construction operations.
What you get: Comprehensive analysis of whether the property actually supports your construction business operations, plus identification of potential problems before you commit financially.
Our construction due diligence includes:
Your challenge: Standard purchase and lease agreements don’t address the unique needs and risks of construction business operations.
Our solution: We negotiate real estate contracts with construction-specific provisions that protect your operational needs and provide escape clauses for compliance issues.
What you get: Contracts that actually work for construction businesses, with protections against hidden operational restrictions and environmental liabilities.
Construction-specific provisions we negotiate:
Your challenge: Standard title reviews miss construction-specific issues like mechanic’s lien exposure, equipment access easements, and operational restrictions buried in deed language.
Our solution: We conduct title reviews specifically focused on issues that affect construction business operations, including lien searches that identify mechanic’s lien risks from previous construction work.
What you get: Affordable flat-rate title reviews that identify all restrictions and encumbrances affecting your ability to operate a construction business on the property.
Your challenge: Developing custom facilities for construction operations requires coordinating complex permitting, zoning, and regulatory approvals that generic attorneys can’t navigate.
Our solution: We handle the legal aspects of construction facility development, from initial zoning approvals through construction-to-permanent financing coordination.
What you get: Legal support for developing facilities specifically designed for your construction operations, with proper permits and approvals for your intended use.
We handle purchases of warehouses, shops, equipment storage facilities, and office buildings specifically for construction company operations, ensuring compliance with all operational requirements.
Specialized properties for equipment storage, material stockpiling, and vehicle parking require unique legal considerations including zoning compliance, security requirements, and environmental regulations.
Custom facilities for welding, fabrication, and equipment maintenance involve complex zoning, environmental, and safety regulations that must be addressed during development.
When construction companies expand across multiple markets, we handle the real estate legal requirements for establishing compliant operations in new jurisdictions.
Office facilities combined with operational space require balancing professional appearance requirements with construction business operational needs.
Construction companies often need flexible lease terms for seasonal operations, equipment storage, and project-based space requirements that standard commercial leases don’t address.
When construction companies develop projects for their own use or as investments, we provide legal support for the entire development process, from initial feasibility through project completion.
Our development services include:
Construction facility development requires coordinating multiple regulatory approvals that must align with operational timelines and business requirements.
What we coordinate:
Development financing for construction facilities involves unique considerations including equipment financing integration, operational cash flow requirements, and completion guarantees.
Your business location is critical to your operations and profitability. The wrong property can shut down your business, create massive liability, and force expensive relocations that destroy years of growth.
Construction companies that use generic real estate attorneys typically face:
Pre-Purchase Due Diligence for Construction Operations. Before you commit to any property, we’ll verify it actually supports your construction business operations. Comprehensive reviews completed efficiently.
Construction-Focused Contract Negotiation. We negotiate purchase and lease agreements with construction-specific protections that generic real estate attorneys miss.
Ongoing Real Estate Legal Support. Our general retainer covers all real estate legal services, including due diligence, contract negotiation, title review, and development support.
Rapid response for urgent real estate deadlines and closing issues.
Contact The Cromeens Law Firm today: (713) 715-7334
Don’t let real estate mistakes destroy the construction business you’ve worked so hard to build.
Residential attorneys don’t understand construction business operations, zoning requirements for commercial vehicles, environmental risks, or the unique access and utility needs of construction companies.
Signing leases without verifying that the property actually allows construction business operations. Most construction real estate problems involve operational restrictions not disclosed during initial negotiations.
Our comprehensive due diligence is competitively priced and represents a fraction of the cost of discovering problems after you’ve committed to a property that doesn’t work for your business.
Yes. Environmental liens transfer with property ownership, making you responsible for cleanup costs that can exceed the property value. Proper due diligence identifies these risks before purchase.
Contact us immediately. Depending on the lease terms and the nature of the problems, you may have legal remedies including lease termination or landlord responsibility for compliance issues.
Ready to protect your construction business real estate? Call (713) 715-7334 now for immediate consultation.
You will work directly with our experienced commercial real estate attorneys who will review the contract and explain what you are signing to ensure a smooth real estate transaction. Our real estate lawyers have extensive knowledge of the buying and leasing process as well as the terms and conditions you need to be wary of in your real estate contracts.
For help closing on or leasing commercial property in The United States, our real estate attorneys can help. We invite you to schedule a free consultation with us by calling our office. We are here to answer your questions, explain all the terms and help you negotiate your contract terms. Call us today, 713-715-7334. Hablamos español.
The Cromeens Law Firm offers a comprehensive retainer package tailored exclusively for clients in the construction industry. With our firm’s deep expertise in construction law, our retainer package ensures you have access to top-notch legal services whenever you need them.
