Every now and then, a company cannot find a property that adequately meets its needs. On these occasions, there are two solutions: a) buy your own land and build your own building, or b) arrange with an investor or developer so that they can buy the land, build the building that suits you and rent it back to your company. .
This second operation is called “Build-to-Suit” – custom construction. Ocupantes has already coordinated this type of operation for clients, identifying suitable land and negotiating the scope of the work and the lease contract with the investor (or developer).
The terminology error
You may have already come across signs, advertisements or texts offering land with the expression “Available for Built-to-Suit”. However, this expression, in this context, is not correct.
“Built” is a verb conjugated in the past tense. Therefore, it only makes sense to use it if the work has already been completed.
The correct expression: “Build-to-Suit”
The correct terminology, both in English and tropicalized, is “Build-to-Suit”, with the ending in “D”. The expression “Build-to-Suit” is made up of two key elements: “build” and “to suit”.
“Build” is used as a verb in the infinitive, meaning the action of building, while “to suit” is, grammatically, a prepositional phrase that indicates the purpose or purpose of construction – that is, building something to measure.
Perhaps the origin of the error lies in the difficulty, for Brazilians, in pronouncing the letter D in the verb Build.
Another grammatical definition
The English expression can also be considered a noun phrase. In this sense, the correct translation would be “Construction to measure” instead of “Build to measure”.
Is “Built” sometimes correct?
Yes, when the building has already been completed, as the verb is in the past tense. This is the crucial difference.
A “Built-to-Suit” building has already been completed and delivered.
Examples
To illustrate this, let’s look at some correct examples using the words “Build” and “Built”:
- “GE opted for a ‘Build-to-Suit’ process, that is, custom-made construction, for its new facility. The Ocupantes Consultoria Imobiliária team led the entire process, from conception to site selection and supervision of the work, ensuring that the project was delivered according to expectations.”
- “I have land that I’m offering for ‘Build-to-Suit’ projects. I can build a company a custom project, and we’ll arrange a long-term lease to offset my investment. Soon, a sign will be placed on the land announcing: ‘ 50,000 m2 land for a ‘Build-to-Suit’ project.”
- “The building where Vivo is now located was ‘built-to-suit’ (verb ‘built’ in the past tense), that is, it was custom built, in 2003, by WTorre, next to the Morumbi bridge, in São Paulo. an example of a ‘Build-to-Suit’ process.”
Conclusion
We hope this clarification has been helpful. If you are planning a personalized real estate project, always remember to use the appropriate terminology – “Build-to-Suit” – and to count on Ocupantes real estate consultancy.
Thomas Govier | Partner
35 years of experience in the real estate sector, including 5 years in England with DTZ, a global real estate consultancy, and from 1999 to 2005 at JLL in Brazil, holding positions such as Head of Valuations and Strategic Consulting in South America and Director Tenant Representation.
Member of CRECI, graduated in Real Estate Administration from the College of Estate Management at the University of Reading, in England, and studied Real Estate Law for non-lawyers at FMU in Brazil.
Phone: +55 11 99602-2974
E-mail: thomas.govier@ocupantes.com.br
