Commercial HVAC · Strip Centers, Retail and Office · Central Oklahoma

Strip center and retail HVAC in Central Oklahoma

4.8 stars, 300+ Google reviews

A strip center is not one building, it is ten or twelve small ones sharing a roofline, and the HVAC problem in suite six is never the same problem as the one in suite two. I am Dave Hartzell. I have worked in HVAC/R since 1980, and I service multi-tenant rooftop units, retail split systems and office HVAC across seven Oklahoma counties: Kingfisher, Canadian, Oklahoma, Garfield, Major, Logan and Blaine.

How is HVAC different in a strip center or shopping center than in a single building?

Each suite in a strip center usually has its own rooftop unit or split system tied to its own electrical panel, so one tenant’s equipment failure does not have to take down the tenant next door, but the roof, the parapet and sometimes the curb the unit sits on are shared. That matters when I diagnose a problem, because I have to know whether I am looking at one suite’s equipment or something the whole building shares, like a bad roof penetration letting water into a unit that looks fine from the ground. Retail and office buildings also run longer daily hours than a house, so the equipment cycles more and the failures show up sooner.

Do you install HVAC and ductwork for a new tenant space or buildout?

Yes. When a landlord or a new tenant divides a shell space into a finished store, office or clinic, I run a load calculation for the new footprint, design the duct layout for the new walls and ceiling grid, and size the rooftop unit or split system to that specific space, not to whatever equipment was serving the old layout. This past August, a commercial property manager called me about one suite in a shopping center where the heating was not keeping up. I went room by room, ran the load numbers for that suite, and wrote up an estimate for the ductwork needed to fix it, rather than guessing at a bigger unit and hoping the air found its way to every corner of the space.

Who pays for HVAC repair in a strip center, the landlord or the tenant?

Most retail and strip center leases put HVAC maintenance and repair on the tenant, but I have seen leases that split it between landlord and tenant, so the honest answer is: read your lease, not a website. What I do is diagnose and fix the equipment, then send the invoice to whoever the property manager or tenant tells me to bill. If you are not sure who is responsible, I can tell you exactly what is wrong with the unit. The lease still has to answer who pays for it.

Can one tenant’s rooftop unit be serviced without disrupting the rest of the center?

Yes. A rooftop unit failure in one suite is almost always isolated to that suite’s own equipment and electrical circuit, so I work on it from the roof or the unit’s own disconnect without needing access to the stores on either side. The exception is a shared curb, shared ductwork chase, or a shared gas or electrical service feeding more than one suite, which is more common in older strip centers. I check that before I start, so nobody’s power gets shut off by surprise.

What does the $389 commercial diagnostic cover for a strip center or retail space?

The Commercial Diagnostic Level A is $389 flat for light commercial equipment up to 15 tons, the same price day or night, and it covers the trip and a full diagnosis of the unit before any repair is done. That is the one public commercial number I quote, whether the call is a hot suite in July or a heat pump that will not run in January, and it is bookable online. If the rooftop unit turns out to be bigger than 15 tons, or the building has more than one system tied together, I size it on site and quote the repair from there. I do not guess a number over the phone for equipment I have not put a meter on.

How do you keep a strip center comfortable through an Oklahoma summer and winter?

Summer and winter ask different things of a strip center roof: summer strains the compressor and condenser side of every unit at once through the hottest part of the afternoon, and winter is what finds the one unit with a weak heat strip, a tired gas valve or a stuck economizer damper first. A retail or office tenant cannot post a sign and close for the afternoon the way a house can just run the air conditioner harder. I keep an eye on which units on a property are the oldest and the most likely to fail first in each season, so a service call is not the first time I have thought about that equipment.

Do you take after-hours or weekend calls so a store can open on time?

Yes. Retail and office HVAC problems get discovered after closing or on a weekend far more often than during business hours, and the commercial diagnostic stays $389 flat with no after-hours surcharge and no weekend uplift. A store that cannot open at its posted hours because the building is too hot or too cold loses that day’s business, and I would rather take the call at ten at night than have a tenant standing outside a locked door at nine the next morning.

Do you offer maintenance agreements for strip centers and commercial buildings?

Yes, but a commercial maintenance agreement is built one to one for the building, not sold off a price list, because a four-unit strip center and a twelve-unit strip center do not carry the same equipment count or roof access. I look at how many rooftop units or split systems are on the property, how they are accessed, and how often the property manager wants them checked, then I write the agreement to that. Call 405-375-4822 and I will walk the roof with you before I write a number.

What commercial customers has Hartzell’s worked on?

My commercial customers include Sonic Drive-In locations in Kingfisher, Fairview and Okarche, 7 Brew coffee stands in Yukon and Edmond, and The Cedar Gate event center in Loyal, a customer of mine since 2017. The Sonic account has had two Trane rooftop unit replacements and a Commercial Diagnostic Level A visit for a thermostat and wiring repair. The 7 Brew work has been HVAC only, a blower motor in Yukon and an evaporator motor in Edmond. The Cedar Gate has stayed on my schedule for HVAC service for close to a decade. None of that is a strip center suite, but it is the same kind of work: a small commercial building that has to stay open, serviced by the same tech who answers the phone. I also handled a commercial rescue at a brand new McDonald’s in Guthrie on its opening day; read that story here.

What counties does Hartzell’s serve for strip center and retail HVAC?

I service strip centers, retail stores, offices and other light commercial buildings across seven Oklahoma counties daily: Kingfisher, Canadian, Oklahoma, Garfield, Major, Logan and Blaine. The business is located at 602 S Main St, Kingfisher, Oklahoma 73750, and the phone number is 405-375-4822.

For commercial pricing and everything I service across central Oklahoma, see my commercial HVAC page. Most strip center and retail equipment is a rooftop package unit, so if yours is not running right, see my rooftop unit repair page. Restaurants inside a strip center or standalone carry their own kitchen and refrigeration questions, covered on my restaurant HVAC page. If a landlord or a previous contractor installed equipment that still is not right, see my second opinion page.

Strip center and retail HVAC questions