- 5/5 Stars rating on Google
Tenant-side · Commercial fitout management · New Zealand
Your fitout is where the lease terms become real. We make sure the build, the consents and the lease all line up.
We manage commercial fitout projects for tenants from lease signing to opening day. Design, consents, contractors and timelines, all coordinated around your lease obligations, so the doors open on schedule and you're not paying rent on a space you can't trade from yet.
Managing Commercial Fitouts For Tenants
Every Fitout Run Around Your Lease Obligations
We Act For You, Never The Landlord Or Their Agent
THE PROBLEM
The lease decides what you can build, who pays for what, and when your rent clock starts. Base build versus tenant works. Landlord design approvals. Consent timelines tied to a commencement date. Get any of it wrong and the build runs late, the budget blows out, and you're paying rent on a space you can't open yet.
THE COST OF GETTING IT WRONG
Picture a site turning over $80,000 a month. The lease commencement date is locked, but the council sign-off slips two weeks. That's two weeks of rent with no revenue, on a fitted-out store sitting dark, waiting on an approval nobody had scheduled.
The same gap shows up in the budget. A base build boundary you didn't pin down. A landlord approval you assumed was handled. A make-good obligation you built in without realising. Each one lands as a cost or a delay, weeks or years later.
"Marcus was responsible for sourcing and qualifying potential office options, negotiating our lease with the landlord and managing our fitout within a very tight timeframe."
YOUR GUIDE
You've got a business to open and a hundred decisions to make. Architects, engineers, contractors, council and the landlord, all pulling in different directions. It's a lot to hold together when fitouts aren't what you do for a living.
I've managed commercial fitouts for tenants for 20 years. The difference is where I start: with the lease. Architects design and builders build, and they do it well. My job is to make sure all of it lines up with what your lease actually requires, so nothing surfaces halfway through the job. I act for tenants only. Never landlords.
20 years tenant-side
Tenant-side only
Lease alignment and delivery
Retail, hospitality, office, industrial
OUR APPROACH
A clear process from the day you sign to the day you open, with the lease driving every milestone.
We start with your lease: base build versus tenant works, landlord approvals, commencement triggers and make-good. Then we set a budget and a timeline the lease can actually support.
We bring the architects, engineers, consultants, council and contractors together, and keep the design aligned with your operations, the landlord's approvals and the consent requirements.
We manage the build against the programme, track consents and approvals, and resolve issues early, so you open on schedule and start trading.
What We Manage
A fitout has dozens of moving parts and a landlord watching every one of them. We sit across all of it so nothing falls between the consultants, the contractor and the lease.
Scope, budget and a timeline built to fit your lease milestones, set before any design work starts.
The boundary between what the landlord delivers and what you pay for, pinned down before the bills arrive.
Architects, engineers and specialist consultants kept aligned with your operations and the landlord's approvals.
Building consent applications and council interactions managed and tracked, with delay risk flagged early.
Tendering, pricing and contractor selection, weighing cost against quality and negotiating the fitout price.
Commencement triggers, landlord obligations and compliance managed, so the lease and the build stay in step.
You open on schedule, trading from the day the rent starts
The build stays inside a budget set against your lease
Base build, consents and make-good are handled before they bite
WHAT GOOD LOOKS LIKE
Three real projects and what tenant-side fitout management delivered to the bottom line.
Design, building consent (change of use and fire engineering included), contractor procurement and construction to a Code Compliance Certificate, with no rent paid while it was built, delivered through Covid closures.
Who This Is For
Whether you're fitting out a retail store, a restaurant, an office or industrial, the risk is the same: a build that drifts away from the lease, the budget and the opening date.
We work with retail, hospitality, office and franchise tenants across New Zealand, from a single fitout to a multi-site programme. If fitouts aren't your day job but a late or over-budget one would hurt, this is built for you.
The best time to bring us in is before design starts, while the lease can still shape the plan. The next best time is now, before the next milestone slips.
Common questions
No. We don't design or build. We manage the whole project on your behalf and coordinate the architects, consultants, council and contractors, with your lease driving the plan. The designers and builders do their work, and we keep all of it lined up commercially.
We sit above them, managing the programme, the budget, the consents and the lease alignment. Good designers and builders deliver their part well. Our job is to keep every part moving together and tied to what the lease actually requires.
Because the lease decides what you can build, who pays for it, when your rent starts and what you'll have to reinstate at the end. A fitout planned without reading the lease is where most delays and cost overruns begin.
Yes. If the project is underway and drifting, we can step in, take stock of where the risks sit, and get it back on track. Earlier is better, but it's rarely too late to bring a project back under control.
It depends on the size and scope of the project, from a single fitout to a multi-site rollout. We'll be clear about it on the first call, before you commit to anything.
Free Download
The Fitout Brief Builder gets every fitout decision out of your head and onto one page, including the lease clauses that quietly decide your timeline and budget, before anyone starts drawing.
contact us
Tell me about your premises and your lease. I'll show you where the timeline, the budget and the make-good risks sit, and how I'd run the project to keep you trading on day one. No obligation.
