Commercial Development Cost Budget Checklist for Alberta

1. Land and acquisition

Record purchase price, deposit timing, commissions where applicable, legal work, title and survey records, diligence, appraisal, lender costs, closing adjustments, GST treatment and acquisition financing.

Keep acquisition cost separate from the residual land allowance so the model can show the difference between what the project supports and what the transaction requires.

• Price and deposits
• Closing and registration
• Diligence and professional review
• GST and adjustments
• Acquisition carry

2. Site work and servicing

Price demolition, clearing, grading, earthworks, unsuitable material, remediation, roads, access, sidewalks, landscaping, stormwater, shallow utilities, deep utilities, extensions and external work.

Confirm utility capacity, point of connection, oversizing, cost-sharing, easements, land dedication, agreement and security requirements. A service near the site is not proof of available capacity or project connection cost.

3. Hard building costs

Organize contractor estimates by structure, envelope, roof, mechanical, electrical, fire protection, vertical transportation, interiors, equipment, general conditions, overhead, profit and construction contingency.

Record building area, specification, pricing date, procurement method, inclusions, exclusions, escalation basis and taxes. Use the Statistics Canada construction-price index only for trend context within its published scope.

4. Soft and professional costs

Budget planning, architecture, engineering, landscape, environmental, geotechnical, survey, legal, accounting, appraisal, insurance, commissioning, testing, project management and owner administration.

Link each allowance to a proposal or defined scope when possible. Include later-stage work, redesign and construction administration rather than stopping at the application submission.

5. Fees, permits, levies and authority charges

Create an authority register for planning applications, subdivision, development permits, building and trade permits, inspections, off-site levies, local improvements, utility charges and other municipal requirements.

Use the current jurisdiction-specific bylaw, fee schedule and estimate. Calgary and Edmonton publish distinct levy and development-fee information; neither should be treated as an Alberta-wide rate.

6. Financing and carrying costs

Include lender fees, legal and appraisal costs, interest, standby fees, monitoring, quantity-surveyor reports, guarantees, hedging where applicable, property taxes, insurance, security, utilities and site maintenance through delivery.

Model cash flow over time. Interest on average debt or a single percentage allowance may be inadequate when approvals, draws, sales and lease-up have uneven timing.

7. Contingency and escalation

State whether contingency applies to hard cost, site work, soft cost or the complete budget. Keep escalation separate when it reflects pricing movement between estimate date and procurement or construction.

Record exclusions and known unknowns. Contingency should not substitute for a missing environmental investigation, incomplete servicing concept or unpriced authority requirement.

8. GST and other tax workstreams

Show whether each cost is before or after GST, whether input tax credits are assumed, and when cash tax is paid or recovered. Separate income-tax, property-tax and transaction-tax advice from project-cost arithmetic.

Have a qualified Canadian tax advisor confirm treatment for the ownership entity, property use and transaction. This checklist does not determine tax liability or eligibility.

9. Marketing, lease-up and disposition

Budget marketing, brokerage remuneration where applicable, tenant inducements, fit-up obligations, legal documentation, free rent, operating deficits, sale closing costs and unsold or vacant inventory carry.

Tie leasing and sale costs to the revenue and timing assumptions in the model so they do not disappear between gross development value and project cash flow.

10. Agreements, securities and holdbacks

Development and servicing agreements can require construction obligations, insurance, indemnities, financial security, inspections, acceptance, warranty periods and staged release. Track both cash cost and liquidity tied up by security.

Separate refundable security from non-refundable cost while still modelling its timing and financing impact. Counsel and the municipality control the agreement interpretation and release conditions.

11. Source and effective-date control

For each line, record source, contact, date, version, quantity, unit, tax basis, escalation, confidence, owner, approval status and next action. Preserve superseded estimates and explain material movements.

Reconcile the budget to drawings, area schedule, project schedule, approval matrix and risk register at each decision gate.

12. Phase the cash flow and review professionally

Allocate costs to acquisition, pre-development, approvals, servicing, construction, commissioning, lease-up, sale and warranty periods. Identify peak equity, debt draw and liquidity requirements.

Commercially can coordinate the commercial real-estate search, market evidence and transaction process. Qualified contractors, quantity surveyors, planners, engineers, municipalities, lenders, appraisers, accountants and lawyers control estimates, approvals and advice. This checklist is not a contractor quote, appraisal, financing approval or complete project budget.