Real Estate Broker · Miami Beach, FL · Member since 2014 · 65 posts · 11 votes
I wanted to poll other San Diego investors, multifamily and residential on the current delays with the city.
Last update I have from the group handling the entitlement process for an 18-unit apartment development we're planning to sell to an end-builder, is the following (keep in mind we initially submitted all the docs in May):
- Items are getting lost (city's dog ate their homework). Had to resubmit a Plans and Study reports.
- On the building plans, everything was plan-checked except the structural for 1 1/2 months, and I resubmitted the rest of the building plans and the structural had not even been ASSIGNED to a reviewer yet.
- Never got a straight answer out of the PM (either admit to screwing up or they're just backed up)
- Everything is submitted, We are basically in a hold until we hear back from them.
Let me know how things are going with your deals and if you have some advice. I was under the impression the city had to follow within a given amount of time.
This forum thread can be a vehicle to help relieve stress, so please don't hold back!
My company does energy efficiency upgrades for residential and commercial buildings and any time I need to pull permits (solar photovoltaic, for example), it takes at least 3-4 weeks for that permit compared to 1-2 weeks in my Los Angeles market. Even though we do dozens of homes a month, they still take forever so I think they're genuinely backed up.
Do you think the situation has gotten worse lately? I ask because there is so much building/development right now, but I'd guess the city's staff is the same size.
Cities can't simply add an employee, it could take somewhere to a year to get approved, plus, they're not employee position addition friendly. I believe they could hire third party plan checkers if they have that, but if they are backed up too, then there's not much more you can do. They are called on-call A&E consultants. Everything is public record, you can ask through freedom of info. After you have your bullets, you can call the building official, if that doesn't work, your local public representative, councilor up to mayor.