# Commercial Journal

> Plain guides from Blackstone Construction in Birmingham, Alabama: delivery methods, pricing, preconstruction, and lessons from restaurants, labs, industrial space and historic buildings.

This is the plain-text version of https://blackstone.build/commercial/journal. To cite or link, use that page.

Straight answers on building commercial space.

- [How to choose a commercial general contractor in Birmingham](https://blackstone.build/text/commercial/journal/how-to-choose-a-commercial-general-contractor-birmingham): October 20, 2026. Eight questions that separate a contractor who can run your project from one who can only price it.
- [What preconstruction is, and what an owner should get from it](https://blackstone.build/text/commercial/journal/what-is-preconstruction): September 15, 2026. Preconstruction puts a reliable price and date on a project while changes are still cheap. Here is what you should receive.
- [Flex buildings and cold-formed steel framing](https://blackstone.build/text/commercial/journal/flex-buildings-cold-formed-steel-framing): August 11, 2026. What a flex building is, why cold-formed steel suits it, and what to decide for tenants you do not have yet.
- [Building a teaching kitchen: what is different from a commercial kitchen](https://blackstone.build/text/commercial/journal/building-a-teaching-kitchen): July 14, 2026. A teaching kitchen is built for watching and taking part. That changes the layout, the equipment and the code conversation.
- [Office, training and light manufacturing in one fit-out](https://blackstone.build/text/commercial/journal/office-lab-and-light-manufacturing-fit-out): June 9, 2026. When offices and production share a suite, plan the production side first. Its power, air and material flow are hardest to change.
- [Planning a high bay with a bridge crane](https://blackstone.build/text/commercial/journal/planning-a-high-bay-with-a-bridge-crane): May 12, 2026. Crane capacity, span and hook height shape the steel and the foundations. Settle them before the structure is designed.
- [Adaptive reuse: what to check before you buy an old building](https://blackstone.build/text/commercial/journal/adaptive-reuse-what-to-check-before-you-buy): April 14, 2026. A change of use brings code upgrades. The structure, the envelope and the utilities decide whether an old building is worth it.
- [What goes into a restaurant build-out](https://blackstone.build/text/commercial/journal/what-goes-into-a-restaurant-build-out): March 10, 2026. The kitchen and its mechanical systems drive the schedule and much of the cost. Design them before you pick finishes.
- [What is a guaranteed maximum price contract?](https://blackstone.build/text/commercial/journal/what-is-a-guaranteed-maximum-price-contract): February 10, 2026. A GMP caps what an owner pays for a defined scope and returns savings. Here is what is inside one and what can move it.
- [Design-build vs. design-bid-build: which fits your project?](https://blackstone.build/text/commercial/journal/design-build-vs-design-bid-build): January 13, 2026. One contract or two, a price early or a price late. A plain comparison of the main ways a commercial building is delivered.

Part of [Blackstone Commercial](https://blackstone.build/text/commercial).