Development question for hilly, 9 acre property

[Andy Mirza]

I'm trying to figure out what kind of professional I need to consult about this project.

My partner's family owns a 9 acre, hilly property with a 5000+ sq ft 1980's house in a very desirable part of north orange county, CA. He's interested in knocking down the house, subdividing the lot, and building potentially 8 houses throughout the property. There is a flat 2 acre area where the house currently sits. There's another 2 acre section that is relatively flat that could be graded to build 4 houses. There are a couple of other spots that potentially could be graded or the hill could be cut into. The rest appears to be unbuildable hillside.

I know we'll have to contact the city to see what will be allowable but I don't even know what is possible and what the costs would be to see if it made sense. What kind of person do I need to consult with? A General Contractor that specializes in spec builds? Someone else?

[Josh Cuthbertson]

I would speak with two different people. Right off the bat you'll need a civil engineer to talk through all of the infrastructure necessary and to deal with the subdivision. Then find a GC who is familiar with doing construction on this type of subdivision.