Land Development& Entitlement Consulting

Site Feasibility & Due Diligence

The cheapest time to find a problem with a site is before you own it. A feasibility review tests whether the site can support the project you have in mind and what it will take to get there. It typically covers:

• Zoning and general plan: whether the intended use and density are allowed as of right or need discretionary approvals.
• Site constraints: topography, easements, access, existing structures and anything else that shapes where and how the project can be built.
• Utilities and infrastructure: available capacity and the offsite improvements the city or utility providers are likely to require.
• Entitlement path and timeline: which approvals are needed, whether environmental review applies and how long the process is likely to run.
• Early cost and schedule: construction cost and duration ranges that reflect the likely conditions of approval, not just a cost per square foot.

The deliverable is a clear written picture of the risks and the open questions, so the buyer can negotiate, adjust the plan or walk away before closing.

Managing the Entitlement Process

Entitlements are the approvals a local government grants for a specific project on a specific site. Depending on the project, they can include zoning or general plan changes, use permits, variances, subdivision maps, design review and environmental review, which in California means CEQA. The process involves many parties and runs for months. It stalls when no one owns the schedule.

• One schedule: every submittal, resubmittal, agency review and hearing tracked in one place, with the owner's decision points called out.
• One set of information: the architect, civil engineer, land use counsel and specialty consultants working from the same current plans and comments.
• Agency comments resolved: comments tracked to closure, with the design and cost effect of each response understood before it goes back to the city.
• Owner in control: regular reporting on status, cost and schedule, so no approval or concession is agreed to without the owner knowing what it means.

PCC is a construction consulting firm, not a law firm or a planning firm. Land use counsel handles the legal questions and legal strategy in any approval process. We work alongside them.

Conditions of Approval: Where the Budget Changes

An approval almost always comes with conditions: offsite improvements, dedications, fees, design requirements, construction-hour limits, mitigation measures and more. Each one is a construction scope item with a cost and a schedule effect. Yet they are often reviewed only for their legal effect. We read them the way a builder will have to build them.

• Scope: what each condition requires to be designed, built, installed or paid for and when.
• Cost: an estimate for each condition, rolled into the project budget so the pro forma matches the approval.
• Schedule: which conditions must be met before permits, before occupancy or at other milestones, placed on the project schedule.
• Carry-through: conditions written into the construction documents and the contractor's scope, so they are not discovered at inspection.

From Entitlement to Construction

An entitled project still has to be designed to completion, permitted, bid and built. The handoff is where commitments made during approvals get lost. We carry the project through design completion, permit coordination and contractor procurement, then stay on as the owner's representative through construction and closeout. For more on that role, see what an owner's representative actually does.