Need Guidance Building and Upgrading an R-2 Property in San Jose

[Abraham Bar]

I'm in the process of acquiring an 960 sft SFR on a 14500e sft in San Jose, CA. My intention is to develop it and rent out.

I talked to the city planning department to understand what is doable in terms of building out and basically was presented with 2 options:

1. Add a 900 sft 2 bed 1bath granny unit.  This, I have been told will readily be approved with a short approval period.

2. Submit drawings for a duplex, potentially an additional unit having a common wall with the existing SFR. There is no guarantee that a duplex will be approved and the approval process will be much longer than option 1 but presents better value when done.

I'm looking for input from people who have done this type of project or similar projects, investors, builders, drafters...

Thanks