Tantum Developers · Commercial

Commercial
Pre-Development
& Development

We underwrite the site before you commit, then represent your interests through design, permitting, bidding, and construction — so the party protecting your capital is not the party spending it.

Owner's representation and development management — San Antonio, South Texas, and Mexico.

Asset classes

Three products we specialize in

Each one turns on a different set of constraints. Flex is governed by clear height, dock access, and truck maneuvering. Multifamily by density, parking, and unit mix. A plaza by visibility, access, and tenant mix. We resolve those against the parcel before you're committed.

Flex & Industrial

Flex & Light Industrial

Small-bay flex, contractor yards, warehouse and shop space, and light manufacturing — the strongest demand in our market, and the most specific site requirements.

  • Clear height, bay depth, column spacing
  • Dock, grade-level, truck turning radius
  • Heavy power and three-phase capacity
  • Outdoor storage and yard permitting
Built for Owner-users who've outgrown their space, and investors building small-bay to lease.
Multifamily

Multifamily

Small to mid-size apartment and build-to-rent communities. Entitlement carries the most weight in the schedule, and the proforma has to be built around it from the start.

  • Density, unit mix, buildable yield
  • Parking ratio and impervious cover
  • Rezoning and neighborhood process
  • Phasing, absorption, delivery schedule
Built for Investors and developers underwriting to yield, not to a floor plan.
Commercial Plaza

Commercial Plaza & Retail

Neighborhood strip centers, pad sites, and mixed-tenant plazas. Value is set by traffic counts, visibility, ease of access, and the strength of the tenant mix you build around.

  • Traffic counts, visibility, curb cuts
  • Parking and shared-access agreements
  • Pad site subdivision and ground leases
  • Tenant mix, demising, shell strategy
Built for Landowners holding frontage, and investors assembling a tenant mix.
Also handled: small office and medical office, land entitlement and subdivision for resale, pad site development, and build-to-suit for owner-users.

How a project moves through Tantum

Start here

Tantum Realty Group

Site identification and acquisition — screened for zoning, utilities, access, and basis against what you intend to build. Meet the team

Stage 01

Pre-Development

Feasibility, due diligence, concept, budget, and entitlement strategy — ending in a documented go / no-go before capital is committed.

See stage 01 →
Design

Architects & engineers

Licensed architect of record, civil, structural, and MEP produce the sealed drawings. We manage the team; they sign the plans.

Stage 02

Development

Bid, contract, permit, build, and deliver — with schedule, cost, and draw control reported to the owner.

See stage 02 →

Enter wherever you are. Already own the land? Begin at Stage 01. Already hold permitted drawings? Begin at bidding and construction management.

Stage 01 · Pre-Development

Underwrite the site before you commit the capital

The decisions that set a project's cost and schedule are made before the first shovel: what the site can carry, how long the approvals will take, and what the number really is. Stage 01 answers those while they are still inexpensive to change, and gives you a documented basis for the decision.

Reviewing site plans and construction drawings for a commercial development
1

Site & program fit

Zoning and permitted use, density, setbacks, height, parking ratio, impervious cover, access and curb cuts — plus a highest-and-best-use read if the program is still open.

2

Due diligence

Survey, title and easements, utility capacity and tie-in points, drainage and floodplain, environmental and geotechnical. We coordinate the vendors and track the findings.

3

Concept & cost model

Massing and concept study, then an order-of-magnitude budget with site work, soft costs, and contingency included — and a proforma with yield on cost, not a square-foot number.

4

Approvals path

Platting, rezoning or special use, variances, traffic and utility commitments — mapped to a calendar, with the schedule-risk items named rather than averaged away.

Flex & Industrial
Watch

Flex space, from site to shell

A closer look at how the constraints above play out on an actual flex parcel — before a single drawing is commissioned.

Watch the video Opens on YouTube

What you receive

Deliverables from a pre-development engagement, in writing.

Site & zoning constraints memorandum
Due diligence tracker with vendor reports
Concept plan and massing study (non-sealed)
Order-of-magnitude budget with contingency
Entitlement path and permitting schedule
Development proforma and yield on cost
Risk register with mitigation options
Documented go / no-go recommendation
Stage 02 · Development

Representation on your side of the table

Once the project pencils, the work becomes execution: getting it built for what was budgeted, on the schedule that was set. We assemble and manage the design team, competitively bid the work, hold the contractor to the awarded scope, and control the draws.

Commercial building under construction
5

Design team & sealed drawings

We select and manage the architect of record, civil, structural, and MEP engineers, and review drawings and specifications before they go out. They seal; we hold them to scope and date.

6

Bid, level, and award

Structured bid packages, scope leveling so every bid is measured on the same work, value engineering before award, contractor qualification and insurance verification, and contract terms that protect the owner.

7

Permitting & construction

Permit submittal and agency response, site meetings, RFI and submittal control, change-order review, schedule tracking, and draws approved against verified work.

8

Closeout & delivery

Punch list, inspections, certificate of occupancy, warranties, as-builts, O&M manuals, and lien releases — the file that matters at refinance or sale.

What you receive

Reporting and documentation throughout the build.

Bid tabulation and scope-leveling analysis
Recommended award with written rationale
Baseline schedule and monthly updates
Budget-to-actual cost reporting
Change-order log with recommendations
Draw packages reviewed against progress
Site observation reports and photo record
Complete closeout file at turnover
Start here

Request a site feasibility review

Send us an address or a parcel ID and tell us what you're trying to build. We come back with what we see and whether it warrants a real look — before anyone signs anything.

  1. Send the site. Address or parcel ID, plus the program you have in mind — bays, units, or tenant spaces.
  2. We review it. Zoning, permitted use, utilities, access, and the constraints specific to that asset type.
  3. We tell you straight. Whether it works, what it would take, and what we'd recommend.

Speak with our team

Development inquiries — bilingual, English and Español

(210) 380-4870

Already holding a budget, bid set, or contract? We also review documents you already have — before you sign, or at any point during a build.

Different need?

Work on a building you already own

This page covers new development. Repairs, improvements, and construction on an existing asset are general contracting, handled on a separate page.

¿Invierte desde México?

Desarrollar propiedad comercial en Texas desde México

Preparamos una guía en español sobre cómo funciona la compra y el desarrollo de propiedad comercial en Texas para inversionistas mexicanos: estructura, proceso, y las preguntas que conviene resolver antes de firmar.

Investing from Mexico? We maintain a Spanish-language guide on how acquiring and developing commercial property in Texas actually works.

Ver la guía en español Equipo bilingüe
San Antonio · Ciudad de México
Straight answers

Questions we're asked before the first meeting

Do you build the project yourselves?
Tantum scopes the work, prepares and levels the bids, coordinates the trades, and supervises the job. All construction and licensed trade work is performed by licensed and insured third-party contractors under separate agreements. That separation is deliberate — it is what allows us to represent your interests when a change order arrives.
Why is multifamily on a commercial page?
Because it is underwritten, entitled, financed, and built as a commercial asset. Density, parking ratio, unit mix, absorption, and yield on cost drive the decision — not the questions a homeowner asks. If you are building a single home for yourself or as a spec property, that work sits on our residential development page.
How long does entitlement actually take?
It depends entirely on the jurisdiction and what is being requested. A by-right project on a platted lot follows a very different calendar than a rezoning with a traffic study and a public hearing. We map the specific path for your site during Stage 01 and identify which items carry schedule risk, rather than quoting an average that will not apply to your parcel.
Can you tell me whether a deal pencils before I spend on design?
That is the purpose of Stage 01 — a concept study, an order-of-magnitude budget with contingency and soft costs, and a proforma with yield on cost, enough to make a documented go / no-go before committing to a full design contract. Concept studies and renderings are illustrative and are not sealed construction documents.
I'm investing from Mexico. Can you work with my attorney and accountant?
Yes, and we prefer it. Tantum does not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice. We coordinate with the advisors you already have, and if you do not have them in Texas, we can introduce you to attorneys and accountants we have worked with so you can evaluate them directly. We receive no commission and hold no financial interest in anyone we introduce. Ver la guía en español →
Tantum Developers

Find out what the site can carry

One conversation is usually enough to establish what a site supports and what it would take to build on it. You'll get a straight read either way.

Scope of services. Tantum Developers provides development consulting, pre-development analysis, owner's representation, and construction management services. Tantum does not perform licensed trade work. All construction and licensed trade work is performed by licensed and insured third-party contractors under separate agreements with the owner or with Tantum, as applicable. Architectural and engineering drawings are prepared and sealed by licensed third-party architects of record and engineers; concept studies, massing, and renderings produced by Tantum are illustrative only and are not sealed construction documents. Budgets, schedules, proformas, absorption assumptions, and yield estimates are preliminary planning estimates based on information available at the time and are not guarantees of cost, timing, approval, leasing, or investment performance. Entitlement and permitting outcomes are determined by the governing jurisdiction. Tantum does not provide legal, tax, accounting, or investment advice. Where we introduce outside professionals, we receive no commission and hold no financial interest in them, we are not responsible for the services they provide, and you are free to engage advisors of your own choosing.