Florida
The Number You Get at Concept Is Not a Price
Every luxury project starts with a figure produced before the design is resolved, and everybody treats it as a budget. We would rather give you an honest range and the three decisions that will move it than a precise-looking number that cannot survive a finished set.
Bring the drawings at whatever stage they are. An honest range and the decisions that move it, before anyone quotes.
Four places account for most South Florida roof leaks. None of them is the middle of the roof.
Licensed
General contractor, licensed in the state of Florida
Self-perform
Dewatering, SOE and deep foundations in house
Leadership
Delivered Fifth Avenue and Central Park West interiors
Open book
Where the contract is cost-plus, the books open
What we build
What we build
Seven project types. Each page names the projects we are the wrong builder for.
Custom Homes
A custom home is the only project where every decision is still open, which is exactly why it is the easiest one to lose control of financially.
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Waterfront Construction
On a waterfront lot the building is often the straightforward part. The water table, the seawall, the flood elevation and the permitting are what decide the program and a large share of the cost.
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Whole-House Renovation
Renovating an existing house is harder to price than building a new one, because a meaningful part of the scope is behind finishes nobody has opened.
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Historic Restoration
In a historic district the approval process governs the design, and it operates on a timescale that has nothing to do with construction.
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Additions & Second Stories
An addition is constrained by a building that was designed for a different life. Whether the existing foundation and structure can carry the new load is the first question and it is not always answered yes.
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Guest Houses & Accessory Structures
A guest house is a small building governed by disproportionately complicated rules. Zoning, not design, determines what is possible.
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The decisions
The decisions that matter
What goes wrong on a luxury build was usually decided months earlier.
Fixed Price or Cost-Plus
The contract type decides who carries the risk of the unknown, and both answers are legitimate. What is not legitimate is a fixed price on drawings that cannot support one.
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Choosing a Builder
Three builders will show you three beautiful portfolios and three numbers that differ by a lot. The portfolio tells you what they photograph, not what they are like to build with.
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Allowances & Selections
An allowance is a placeholder for a decision you have not made. A contract full of them is a contract whose final number has not been decided.
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The Program
Every owner is told a number at the start and most projects take longer. The gap is usually permitting, long-lead items and decisions — rarely the building itself.
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Change Orders
Change orders are normal. Designs evolve, owners change their minds, and buildings reveal things. What is not normal is finding out about them at the end.
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The difference
How we work differently
The number before the drawings are finished is not a price
Every luxury project starts with a figure produced before the design is resolved, and everybody treats it as a budget. It is a range with a design attached. We would rather give you an honest range and the three decisions that will move it than a precise-looking number that cannot survive contact with a finished set.
We self-perform the ground
On a waterfront Florida lot the water table, the seawall and the soil decide the schedule. Most builders subcontract dewatering and support of excavation. We do them ourselves, which is why our programs tend to survive the first month.
Attribution we can defend
Our leadership has delivered interiors at the Pierre, 15 Central Park West, 812 and 1136 Fifth Avenue and 730 Park Avenue. That is leadership experience, delivered before and alongside this firm. We say so plainly rather than implying the company built them.
Allowances are where luxury budgets die
A contract full of round-number allowances for stone, millwork and fittings is a contract that will grow. We price real selections or we tell you the allowance is a placeholder and roughly what it will actually cost.
Start here
Start a preconstruction conversation
Bring the drawings at whatever stage they are, and the survey if you have one. You get a range, the decisions that move it, and an honest read on the site.
If a production builder would serve this project better, that is what you will be told.
FAQ
Common questions
- What does it cost per square foot?
- A range too wide to be useful without the site and the drawings. Anyone quoting one before seeing both is guessing.
- Fixed price or cost-plus?
- Both work. A fixed price against unresolved drawings works for nobody, and we will decline that rather than pad the number.
- How long does a custom home take?
- Well over a year for a substantial house. Permitting and long-lead items usually consume more of the program than construction does.
- Do you self-perform anything?
- Dewatering, support of excavation and deep foundations. On a Florida waterfront lot that is the work most likely to decide the schedule.
- Did Romco build the Fifth Avenue projects?
- Romco leadership delivered that work, before and alongside this firm. We say so explicitly rather than implying company history.
- Why are three builders' numbers so different?
- Usually scope and allowances rather than efficiency. Compare what is included before comparing totals.
- What goes wrong most often?
- Allowances set as round numbers, and owner decisions made late. Both are avoidable and both are decided before construction starts.
- Are you the cheapest?
- No. There are builders who will hand you a smaller number now and find the difference in change orders later.
Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.