POST 002 · CAUSAL CHAIN REFRAME

The building is the residual.

Start with what the market will pay. Subtract land, hard costs, soft costs, financing. What's left — the residual — is your building. Drag any cost up. Watch the building shrink.

Land cost ($M)

$4.0M

Hard cost ($/SF)

$165

Soft cost (%)

22%

Market value (fixed)

$42.0M

Total cost

—

Residual (your building budget)

—

The market sets the ceiling. Everything else is subtracted. The "design" lives in whatever margin remains.