Sale Stream
Component 1: Development Financials
The Development Financials component captures all capital expenditure required to deliver your for-sale development project. From land acquisition through construction completion, this component models the complete cost structure and generates a monthly cash outflow schedule using S-Curve phasing.
Overview
Component 1 walks you through 13 sequential steps to model the full development cost structure. Your early choices (building type, configuration) directly influence the cost benchmarks and allocation structures suggested in later steps.
What This Component Produces
- •Total Development Cost (TDC): Land + Construction + Soft Costs + POWC
- •Monthly Cash Outflow Schedule: Construction costs phased using S-Curve distribution
- •Cost Allocation Breakdown: Detailed soft cost and POWC allocations
- •TDC Ratio Checks: Land cost vs. development cost balance validation
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
Step 1: Project Location
Select the country and city where the project is located, or use the interactive map to virtually pinpoint your exact site.
- Pin-Drop Precision: Click anywhere on the map to drop a pin. The system captures the exact Latitude and Longitude. This precision allows the AI Research Engine to pull hyper-local micro-market data.
- Auto-Currency: Selecting a country automatically suggests the local currency (e.g., Malaysia → MYR), which can be overridden in Step 2.
This selection determines:
- Default currency and unit conventions
- Construction cost benchmarks specific to the market
- Land cost benchmarks and market insights
- Regulatory and permitting timelines
Step 2: Currency Selection
Choose the currency for your financial model. The system will use this currency throughout all components for consistency. Common choices include AED (UAE Dirham), USD, MYR (Malaysian Ringgit), and GBP. All calculations, charts, and exported reports will display in this currency.
Step 3: Building Type
Select the primary product sub-type for your for-sale development. This is one of the most consequential choices, as it determines the configuration options, cost structures, and revenue modeling approach.
🏠 Residential - Landed
Terrace, Semi-D, Bungalow
Low-rise individual units with private land ownership. Requires infrastructure cost modeling.
🏢 Residential - High-Rise
Condo (high-end), Apartment (low-mid), Serviced Apartment
Multi-story residential tower with strata titles. May include mixed-use retail component.
🏪 Commercial - Landed
Terrace shop-offices (G+4 max)
Low-rise commercial units with individual ownership. Requires infrastructure cost modeling.
🏛️ Commercial - Strata Office
Office building (G+4+) with strata titles
Multi-story office tower with individual unit sales. Similar configuration to high-rise residential.
📦 Commercial - Strata Warehouse
Industrial warehouse with strata titles
Multi-level or single-level warehouse units for sale. 100% saleable ratio.
Step 4: Building Configuration
The configuration form auto-selects based on your Building Type from Step 3. There are two distinct configuration modes:
High-Rise Config
For Residential High-Rise and Commercial Strata Office
- Basements (No. of levels): Underground levels for parking, MEP, or storage
- Podium / Parking Floors: Above-grade parking or retail podium levels
- Tower Floors: Above-grade occupied floors (residential units or office space)
Landed Config
For Residential Landed and Commercial Landed
- Number of Units: Total number of individual units/plots
- Land Area per Unit (sqft): Plot size for each unit
- BUA per Unit (sqft): Built-up area for each unit
Auto-Calculated Summary:
- Total BUA = Units × BUA per Unit
- Total Saleable Land Area = Units × Land Area per Unit
- Total Land Area = Saleable Land ÷ 70% (assumes 30% for roads/infrastructure)
Step 5: Mixed-Use (Retail on Ground/Podium)
High-Rise Residential Only:Toggle this option if your high-rise residential project includes retail or F&B components on the ground floor or podium levels.
Retail BUA as % of Ground/Podium BUA
Enter the percentage of ground/podium area allocated to retail. This affects construction cost allocation and will be modeled separately in the revenue component.
Step 6: Construction Costs (CC)
Enter the built-up areas (BUA) and benchmark construction rates for each component. The system suggests benchmark rates based on your selections from Steps 1-4, but you can override these with project-specific data.
Superstructure / Main Building
- Building BUA (sqft): Total built-up area of above-grade occupied floors
- Building Rate (AED/sqft): Construction cost per square foot
Parking & Basements
- Parking BUA & Rate: Above-grade parking structure area and cost
- Basement BUA & Rate: Underground levels area and cost (typically 1.5-2.5x above-grade rates)
Infrastructure Costs (Landed Developments Only)
For Landed Developments: Enter the infrastructure rate for roads, drainage, utilities, and landscaping.
For High-Rise & Strata Office: Leave Infrastructure Rate as 0 (infrastructure is included in building construction costs).
Step 7: Contingency on CC
Apply a contingency percentage to the total construction cost to account for unforeseen expenses, design changes, and material price escalation during construction. Industry standard ranges from 5% to 10%, depending on project complexity and design maturity.
Step 8: SC, POWC & DC
Enter the indirect costs as a percentage of construction cost (including contingency):
- •Soft Costs (SC): Design fees, permits, legal, project management, insurance. Typically 15-20% of construction for sale developments.
- •POWC (Pre-Opening Working Capital): Marketing, sales team, show unit setup, and operating float before first sales. Typically 3-6%.
Development Cost (DC) = CC (incl. contingency) + SC + POWC
Step 9: Land Costs (LC)
Enter the land acquisition details. The system calculates the total land cost and provides market insights comparing your inputs to benchmark values.
Land Area (sqft)
Total land area for the development (auto-populated for landed configs from Step 4).
Land Rate (AED/sqft)
Cost per square foot of land. Override the AI-researched benchmark if you have project-specific data.
Land Cost (LC)
Auto-calculated: Land Area × Land Rate
Market Insight
The system displays the benchmark land rate for your city and calculates land as a percentage of Total Development Cost (TDC). This helps validate whether your land cost is in line with market norms.
Step 10: TDC & Ratio Checks
Review the Total Development Cost breakdown and validate the land-to-development cost ratios.
These ratios are simple guardrails. In many GCC projects, land cost is kept below ~50% of total development cost.
Step 11: Construction Period (with AI Hint)
Set the overall construction duration in months. This will drive the monthly phasing for CC, SC, and POWC.
Construction Period (months)
Enter the total construction duration from groundbreaking to completion.
AI Recommendation (rule-of-thumb)
For a residential with 12 tower floors, a reasonable range is 24–36 months, depending on basement complexity and authority approvals.
Step 12: Construction Stages (M0 to Finishes)
Break down the construction cost (including contingency) into stages. Percentages must sum to 100%. This allocation drives the S-Curve phasing of construction costs.
M0
Design, authority, early enabling
Enabling
Shoring, piling, early works
Sub-Structure
Basements, foundations
Super Structure
Podium, typical floors
Total Allocation: 100.0%
Step 13: Detailed Allocation & Summary
Define how POWC and Soft Costs are distributed over the programme, review standard allocations, then confirm all inputs before generating the model.
AI RECOMMENDATION
POWC Allocation
Based on 2024 Dubai residential data
Source: ADCB Project Database
These are suggested benchmarks. You can override any value if you have project-specific data.
Site Establishment
Mobilization, temporary facilities, site prep
Overhead Costs
Admin, HSE, Management, site staff
Authority Fees
Telco, power, water, drainage, permits
ℹ️ Step 13 timing: Site: 40% M1, 30% M2, 30% M3 (M0 and M4+ zero); if fewer than 3 construction months, those shares are normalized over M1..Mn. Overhead: even across M1–Mn. Authority: 50% in first 2 months, 50% over last 3 months.
AI RECOMMENDATION
Soft Costs Allocation
Based on 2024 Dubai residential data
Source: ADCB Project Database
These are suggested benchmarks. You can override any value if you have project-specific data.
Main Architect
Design, drawings, site supervision
Project Management
Owner's rep, coordination, reporting
Engineering Consultant
Structural, MEP, civil engineering
Geotechnical Consultant
Soil investigation, foundation recommendations
Other Fees
Legal, insurance, marketing, miscellaneous
ℹ️ Percentages below are shares of total soft costs (Step 13).Aggregate cash timing: Soft costs (total): 50% at M0, 30% at M1, 20% at M2 (pre-construction + early design). Sub-lines show Step 13 % of total soft for reference only.
Output: Development Financials Preview
Upon completing Component 1, FeasiBuild generates a comprehensive Development Financials Preview showing the monthly cash outflow schedule with S-Curve phasing.
Summary Cards
Land Cost
AED 48,577,650
Construction Cost
AED 87,794,322
Soft Costs
AED 16,680,921
Total Development Cost
AED 157,442,609
Monthly Cash Outflows Table
The table shows monthly cash outflows from M0 through the construction period, with construction stages (Enabling, Sub-Structure, Super Structure, Finishes) highlighted.
| Cost Item | M0 | M1 | M2 | M3 | ... | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Land Cost | 48,577,650 | — | — | — | ... | 48,577,650 |
| Construction Cost | — | 992,857 | 1,749,575 | 2,159,598 | ... | 87,794,322 |
| Soft Costs | 8,340,461 | 5,004,276 | 3,336,184 | — | ... | 16,680,921 |
| Monthly Total | 57,444,877 | 7,243,812 | 5,630,084 | 2,703,923 | ... | 157,442,609 |
| Cumulative | 57,444,877 | 64,688,689 | 70,318,773 | 73,022,696 | ... | 157,442,609 |
Tips & Best Practices
Use AI Benchmarks as Starting Points
The system suggests benchmark rates for construction costs, land rates, soft costs, and POWC based on your location and building type. Use these as anchors, then adjust based on your specific project's design, contractor quotes, or QS estimates.
Validate Land Cost Ratios
In Step 10, check that your land cost is within the target range (typically ≤51% of TDC for GCC projects). If land costs are too high, the project may have limited profitability.
Infrastructure Costs for Landed Developments
Don't forget to include infrastructure costs for landed developments (roads, drainage, utilities, landscaping). These can be significant and are often overlooked in early-stage feasibility studies.
Construction Period Realism
Use the AI recommendation as a guide, but validate against your contractor's preliminary program. Underestimating construction duration can lead to cash flow shortfalls and financing issues.