Sersiously considering building an apartment building. What do I need to know?

[Manuel Sarabia]

I know what it would cost me just to build the dwelling. But I need to know where to start for the land purchase, fees, any inspections/permits/fees from the city in order to build, etc. I'm not sure if it's possible but I would like to arrive at an accurate number for the cost to build with everything included.

Apartments are almost non existent in the resale market and I am willing to buy the lot and build myself if I'm making a good return.

[Mark G.]

Hello,

It is hard to have a hard and fast rule on impact fees/permits because each apartment project is different in terms of unit size, project size, amount of open space, affordable units, etc. 

In San Diego there is a lot of competition for new developments because of the very very low vacancy rate with all the good land deals being snatched up by cash. In El Centro there is a lot of land available but you need to hunt down the most infill lots that you can close to town even if you need to pay more for it because you need to substantiate demand in a smaller market. In terms of fees here is a short list:

Park & Recreation, Public Facility Fee, Sewer Fee, Water Fee, School Fee, Affordable housing fee, drainage fee, fire fees, traffic fees. 

Some of these may not even appear in El Centro (like drainage I would guess) but you need to speak to each local authority to get the exact amount. If you are lucky the planning department would have some of those answers while the building department can help you on the cost of building permit and inspection fees within reason (you will still need a case study of course).

For education look at some of the marketing packages on loop-net in San Diego for apartment developments to show impact fees, cost to construct, timelines and cost estimates.