Share thisThe past decade has shown renovation costs closing in on the cost of new construction. What are the implications for the future?
How much is my animal facility going to cost?” has been a popular question for quite some time at AALAS conferences and various gatherings of animal facility users. It prompted me in the early 90s to write a chapter titled “Cost Issues” for the Handbook of Facilities Planning: Volume 2, which was entirely dedicated to laboratory animal facilities and published in 1991.1In this chapter, I discussed several tables which showed square footage based facility cost ranges. These tables were based on actual project cost data which I had personally collected over a period of five years in the late 1980s. An example of the 1990 findings is shown in Figure 1. The chapter stated that, back in 1990, actual animal facility renovation project costs ranged from $135 to $270 per square foot, while the cost of new construction projects ranged from $180 to $397 per square foot. The 1990 database included 42 projects totaling about 3.9 million gross square feet (gsf). The “Cost Issues” chapter concluded that “since construction costs are constantly changing and vary greatly by region, facility size, and configuration, it is wise to consult an expert planner or cost consultant before a square foot cost number is applied to a specific project.” Fifteen years ago, and still true today, many animal facility projects ended up being cancelled, downsized, or redesigned because the initial cost estimates turned out to be unrealistic. Another recommendation from the 1990s, “If only a few existing conditions penalize a renovation project, such as removal of asbestos containing material, new construction can quickly become more economically attractive. Successful renovation of animal facilities involves downgrading such facilities, in lieu of upgrading those with more sophisticated (and costly) HVAC and electrical systems.”