Meaning & use
spec building
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Meanings
nouncountable
a building constructed without a buyer or tenant already arranged, in the hope that one will be found later
Grammar: Countable: use 'a spec building' for one, 'spec buildings' for several.
Patterns
- a spec building
- build something as a spec building
- spec building projects
The developer put up a spec building downtown and found a tenant within six months.
Banks are more cautious about lending money for spec buildings than for projects with signed leases.
The empty office block is a classic spec building: nobody had agreed to rent it before construction started.
noununcountablebusiness
the activity or business of constructing buildings in this way, without a buyer or tenant lined up in advance
Grammar: Uncountable when it refers to the activity: 'Spec building is risky in a slow market.'
Patterns
- spec building is risky
- a wave of spec building
- spec building slowed down
Spec building slowed sharply after interest rates rose.
The company made its name in spec building before moving into long-term property management.
Word forms
| plural | spec buildings |
|---|
Common combinations
- a spec building project
- The city approved a large spec building project on the edge of town.
- build on spec
- They decided to build on spec rather than wait for a tenant.
- spec office building
- A new spec office building opened near the station last month.
- finance a spec building
- Fewer banks are willing to finance a spec building these days.
- spec home
- He started out building spec homes in the suburbs.
Synonyms and how they differ
- speculative building
- A more formal way to say the same thing; it is common in business reports and legal documents.
- spec development
- Often used for larger projects, especially offices or retail space, rather than a single building.
Opposites
Word family
- spec adjective
- Short for 'speculative'; used before nouns, as in 'a spec house' or 'a spec project'.
- speculative adjective
- Full form meaning done in the hope of later profit, as in 'a speculative development'.
- speculate verb
- To take a business risk in the hope of gain, as in 'They speculated on rising land prices.'
- speculator noun
- A person who buys or builds in the hope of selling later at a profit.
Commonly confused: spec building or specification? spec building or custom building?
spec building vs specification
'Spec' in 'spec building' is short for 'speculative', not 'specification'. A specification is a detailed description of how something should be made.
spec building vs custom building
A custom building is designed for a particular buyer's needs, while a spec building is made first and sold or rented later.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'spec building' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A spec building is constructed without a buyer or tenant lined up, so 'before finding any tenants' fits. The other options confuse 'spec building' with 'specification', which means a detailed description.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “spec building”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.