Average Budget for Retail Center Sign Renovations?
LOSING THE DAZZLE?
What’s the price of shopping center sign upgrades? Worse yet, what’s the price you’ll pay for not upgrading??
If your shopping center’s signs have been around more than ten years, this article may help you ponder a sign renovation project. Replacing or upgrading signage at shopping centers is a good way to turn humdrum entrances and storefronts into dazzling attractions. Styles change and weather just does what it does to deteriorate their former glow over time. Even if your current sign system hasn’t been around too long, it always makes sense to renovate if the change will have a profound influence on attracting more business.
WHAT’S IN A TYPICAL RETAIL CENTER SIGN PACKAGE?
The typical shopping center signage package consists of:
- Free-standing project ID signage: The free-standing signs at the center entrance(s) is/are usually the large pylon or monument type. To renovate a pylon, the outer shell is stripped off to the steel and concrete structure and, if in good shape, a new sign is slipped over the old bones. The average cost to renovate a free-standing sign within our service area varies but examples below can give you a better feel for the average cost ranges of typical projects. Adding a digital component increases the investment and potential for better communications and more business for tenants. Renovating monuments usually costs less than pylons.
A total investment of about $73,000 renovated two entrance pylons and a row of tenant wall signs at Rockwood Square, providing a modernized look that gets the attention of both customers and prospective tenants. Prior to the makeover, the center had a high vacancy rate, but after all the renovations it is now 98% full, much of which is attributed to new signs!
These dated Brookhill Azalea center entrances were transformed into fresh, new multi-tenant identification signs that compliment each other and inspire customers to shop. The new signs allow tenants to broadcast 24-hr customized digital messages to potential shoppers passing by for an investment of about $55,000 a sign.
- Pad site signage:
Many shopping center properties with pad sites can have both free-standing signs and building-mounted signs at tenant pad site locations. Renovating signage at these sites ranges depending on what’s involved. Custom awnings, multiple sets of building-mounted channel letters, over-sized pylons, digital messaging, and parking lot directionals all add cost.
- Individual tenant store signs:
Most retail center tenants use wall-mounted signs at their storefronts. The most popular tenant storefront sign type is channel letters. Store branding can also be conveyed using box signs, and then there are many other creative options including flush or three dimensional spot-lit signage, graphics painted directly on the wall, and custom awnings.
WHAT DRIVES COST?
Here is a summary of the primary factors that drive the cost of shopping center sign renovations:
FREE-STANDING PROJECT ID/ PAD SITE SIGNAGE
- Quantity of signs
- Size/Design/Height
- Use of digital sign equipment
- Condition of structure and foundation
- Custom embellishments to be used
TENANT SIGNS
- Quantity of signs
- Size/Design/Height
- Box Sign versus Channel Letter construction
- Form of Lighting: Internally-Lit, Face-Lit, Halo-Lit, Non-Lit
- Embellishments
DOWNLOAD INTERESTING SIGN CASE STUDIES HERE
Comments
Sign up for our newsletter?
Prove you’re human: 
