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Published area referenceTransparent allowances

Retail Construction Cost Calculator: Fit-Out Rate per ft² (2026)

Published reference: USD 157.00 per ft² (USD 1,689.93 per m²), Cushman & Wakefield: 2026 U.S. Retail Fit Out Cost Guide, 2026 guide.

For an in-line store fit-out, apply the published U.S. average to matching floor area. For shell or ground-up retail work, use a separately verified manual rate.

Who it's for: architects, owners, and estimators who need to apply a published reference or their own dated retail construction rate using transparent arithmetic — not a market forecast — for a specific quantity and allowance set, at feasibility or schematic design.

Retail fit-out cost per m² or ft²

Choose a published reference, enter matching floor area, and calculate. Source facts travel with the result; you do not need to retype them.

Compare published rates and source details

Calculate from a published area rate

Choose a published reference; no rate or location is selected automatically.

Choose a reference to review its period and cost scope before calculating.

Use the selected source definition of floor area. Do not enter room, bed or seat counts.

Reference arithmetic, not a project budget. No current-price adjustment, currency conversion or extra allowance is applied. A rate's cost inclusions remain those of its source.

Have a project-specific rate or additional allowances? Use the separate manual calculation.

Calculate with your chosen rate

1. Quantity, unit and rate
2. Benchmark source and scope

Use the precision stated by the source: a year (2025), calendar quarter (2025-Q3), month (2025-08) or day (2025-08-15). Do not invent a month or copy the publication edition into this field.

State whether fees, contingency, land, external works, taxes and other costs are included. Unknown is not the same as excluded. Enter only additional, non-overlapping allowances.

3. Additional allowances
Scenario, not a forecast
Total = quantity × entered rate × (1 + entered allowances). Align currency, base date, scope, measurement basis, location, taxes, escalation and exclusions before comparing scenarios.

Published area rates and sources

Selected references in USD — converted area units, not new market observations
Reference and periodPublished / ft²Converted / m²
In-line retail fit-out — U.S. national average (2026)2026 guideUSD 157.00≈ USD 1,689.93
Method, source scope and period

1 ft² = 0.09290304 m². Divide a USD/ft² rate by this factor for USD/m². Divide m² area by the same factor before multiplying by the original rate. Only displayed values are rounded.

NIST area conversion definition. Unit conversion does not reconcile gross, net, finished or rentable area definitions.

In-line retail fit-out — U.S. national average (2026)

U.S. national average for an in-line store fit-out, based on the publisher contractor survey; not shell or ground-up construction. Use store fit-out floor area consistent with the surveyed scope, not the entire shopping-center area. Specialist retail, shell work and total development costs are separate. This summary does not itemize every included cost.

Cushman & Wakefield: 2026 U.S. Retail Fit Out Cost Guide · publication date: not established · period: 2026 guide.

Selected figures read 2026-09-11. That check date is not a cost observation date. Missing inclusions remain unknown, not excluded; do not automatically add land, fees, FF&E, taxes or contingency.

Two source endpoints are separate scenarios, not a statistical interval. No bed, seat or room count is converted to area.

Published benchmarks

Retail hard construction cost per square foot by city (RLB) and in-line fit-out cost by region (Cushman & Wakefield). Pick a row to use it as the entered rate, or enter your own.

BenchmarkValueUnitEditionScopeSource
Retail, shopping center, hard construction cost205–335$/sfQ1 2026Austin, TXRLB Quarterly Construction Cost Report, North America, Q1 2026
Retail, shopping center, hard construction cost250–400$/sfQ1 2026Boston, MARLB Quarterly Construction Cost Report, North America, Q1 2026
Retail, shopping center, hard construction cost220–465$/sfQ1 2026Chicago, ILRLB Quarterly Construction Cost Report, North America, Q1 2026
Retail, shopping center, hard construction cost195–405$/sfQ1 2026Los Angeles, CARLB Quarterly Construction Cost Report, North America, Q1 2026
Retail, shopping center, hard construction cost365–730$/sfQ1 2026New York, NYRLB Quarterly Construction Cost Report, North America, Q1 2026
Retail, shopping center, hard construction cost190–340$/sfQ1 2026Washington, DCRLB Quarterly Construction Cost Report, North America, Q1 2026
Retail, strip center, hard construction cost195–260$/sfQ1 2026Austin, TXRLB Quarterly Construction Cost Report, North America, Q1 2026
Retail, strip center, hard construction cost175–280$/sfQ1 2026Boston, MARLB Quarterly Construction Cost Report, North America, Q1 2026
Retail, strip center, hard construction cost170–280$/sfQ1 2026Chicago, ILRLB Quarterly Construction Cost Report, North America, Q1 2026
Retail, strip center, hard construction cost160–235$/sfQ1 2026Los Angeles, CARLB Quarterly Construction Cost Report, North America, Q1 2026
Retail, strip center, hard construction cost385–775$/sfQ1 2026New York, NYRLB Quarterly Construction Cost Report, North America, Q1 2026
Retail, strip center, hard construction cost155–255$/sfQ1 2026Washington, DCRLB Quarterly Construction Cost Report, North America, Q1 2026
In-line retail fit-out, national average157$/sf2026USCushman & Wakefield 2026 U.S. Retail Fit Out Cost Guide
In-line retail fit-out217$/sf2026Northern CaliforniaCushman & Wakefield 2026 U.S. Retail Fit Out Cost Guide
In-line retail fit-out202$/sf2026Pacific NorthwestCushman & Wakefield 2026 U.S. Retail Fit Out Cost Guide
In-line retail fit-out181$/sf2026New York CityCushman & Wakefield 2026 U.S. Retail Fit Out Cost Guide
In-line retail fit-out126$/sf2026Southeast USCushman & Wakefield 2026 U.S. Retail Fit Out Cost Guide
In-line retail fit-out120$/sf2026Midwest USCushman & Wakefield 2026 U.S. Retail Fit Out Cost Guide

Each button selects the stated displayed value, not a typical rate, statistical confidence interval, or recommendation. Inequality bounds are reference-only. Figures are as published on the linked page; check edition, unit, scope and what the rate includes before using one. When a base-date field is present, enter its verified date yourself; a publication year is not a benchmark base month.

How to use this calculator

1
Pick shopping center or strip center
RLB splits hard construction cost by shopping-center and strip-center format across six cities. Enter square footage against the format matching your project.
2
Or use an in-line fit-out rate
Cushman & Wakefield gives in-line retail fit-out cost per square foot by US region: national average, Northern California, Pacific Northwest, New York City, Southeast, and Midwest.
3
Enter allowances and reconcile
Add fees, contingency, and other allowances not already inside the benchmark rate, then compare the total against a project-specific quote rather than treating it as a forecast.

The formula

Base amount = entered quantity × entered rate. Total = base amount × (1 + fees% + contingency% + other allowance%).

Worked example

Example
Illustrative arithmetic only: 1,000 square feet at a user-supplied rate of 200 per unit gives a base amount of 200,000. If the verified base rate excludes the entered 10% additional allowance, the scenario total is 220,000 in that same currency. This is not a published market benchmark.

When this estimate will be off

  • RLB shopping-center/strip-center rows are new hard construction cost; the Cushman & Wakefield in-line rows are fit-out cost only — confirm which basis your project needs.
  • Cushman & Wakefield in-line fit-out rows cover six US regions only; no row exists outside those regions or outside the US.
  • Benchmark rows on this page are sourced reference points, not market data for your project; no currency conversion is supplied.
  • No cost-plan, procurement, escalation, tax, finance, schedule, risk, or professional adequacy determination is made.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Choose one of the published area references above and enter floor area in m² or ft². Its source, period and scope stay attached to the result. No unlisted model, local premium, current-price adjustment or complete project budget is inferred.

No. Room, bed and seat counts are not areas. Only the published area-reference form converts m² and ft², preserving the same area. The separate manual form needs a quantity and rate already expressed in matching units; no currency conversion is performed.

No. It applies transparent arithmetic to a user-supplied benchmark and allowances — it does not predict bids, escalation, or final cost.

Use a dated source for the same market, currency, measurement basis, scope, and project type as the retail construction project you're estimating. The benchmark table above lists sourced reference points, not market data for your project.

So nothing already included in the base rate is counted twice. Enter only allowances not already reflected in the benchmark rate itself.

Only to the extent those costs are already included in your verified base rate or explicit additional allowances. This worksheet does not separately derive or validate escalation, taxes, finance, procurement risk, or professional adequacy.

Sources

  • User-identified cost source — must provide the rate, market, date, currency, measurement basis, scope, inclusions and exclusions

This free Retail Construction Cost Calculator is built and maintained by DataDrivenAEC, using the relevant codes and standards. It does not substitute for professional judgment.