Ground-up commercial construction · Tucson & Pima County
New commercial construction, from bare land.
Grading and utilities, foundations, structure, the full interior, and the inspections that end in a certificate of occupancy. One licensed contractor from empty lot to open doors.
- General Commercial · ROC #321107
- General Residential · ROC #312052
- Roofing · ROC #312053 / CR-42
- Electrical · ROC #332556
Tell us about the site
Where it is, what you want to build, where you are in the process.
I AM YOU 360
Tiny home community for young adults leaving foster care
Ground-up commercial project built from bare ground for a Tucson non-profit housing young adults transitioning out of foster care: nine 450-square-foot homes plus a community gathering centre with a meeting area, a kitchen and sleeping quarters for an on-site behavioural support specialist. Site work, utilities and foundations across the whole site, permitted and inspected as a commercial build rather than as houses.
Nine dwellings and a commercial kitchen on one site is not ten houses. It is two different occupancy types under one permit, one set of inspections and one schedule — residential units and a shared gathering building going up together, with the site work, utilities and foundations serving both. That is the difference between a builder who does houses and a contractor licensed for commercial and residential at once.
“Blass, who owns Crest Contracting, worked with Cook on a pay-as-you-go basis to build the village.”
What a ground-up job involves
Site work and utilities
Grading, drainage, underground utilities and the civil work that has to be right before anything vertical starts. On raw land this is where schedules are won or lost.
Foundations and shell
Footings, slab, structure and envelope — the building made weathertight and ready for the trades to work inside it.
Interior fit-out
Full interior build: partitions, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, finishes and fixtures, taken to the standard the use requires.
Occupancy
Inspections carried through to a certificate of occupancy, because on a new build that certificate is the only definition of finished that matters.
Ground-up questions
What does ground-up construction mean?
Ground-up construction means building from bare land rather than working inside an existing structure — site work, utilities, foundations, structure and the full interior, through to a certificate of occupancy. It is the opposite of a tenant improvement, which fits out a space that already exists.
Do you build ground-up commercial projects in Tucson?
Yes. Crest Contracting is licensed general commercial in Arizona, ROC #321107, and builds new commercial projects from bare ground across Tucson and Pima County. Our most recent is a nine-home community with a shared kitchen hub, built from raw land for the Tucson non-profit I AM YOU 360.
Can you take a project from land purchase through to opening?
Yes. Design and permit coordination, site work, structure, interior fit-out and inspections through to certificate of occupancy. Roofing and electrical are self-performed under our own licences, ROC #312053 / CR-42 and ROC #332556.
How is a ground-up project priced?
Against a drawn and permitted scope, not a phone estimate. The site itself drives a large share of the cost on a new build — grading, drainage and utility runs vary enormously — so an accurate number needs the land looked at, not just the building described.
Do you build multi-unit residential as a commercial project?
Yes. Multiple dwellings on one site are typically permitted and inspected as a commercial build rather than as individual houses. The I AM YOU 360 community was delivered that way — nine homes plus a shared hub building with a full kitchen, which added a food-service occupancy to the same permit.
Have a site?
Whether you own the land or are still looking at it, we will walk it with you and tell you what building on it actually involves.