All Forum Posts by: Boris Suchkov

@Robert Chuang Thanks, it's good to hear the city is pro-development. I'd be happy to chat!

@Victor Ong There are properties in the city very close to the much more expensive cities of South Pasadena and San Marino that are affordable and in a great school district.

I'm looking at Alhambra in Los Angeles County to invest in small multifamily (2-4 units) and add ADUs where appropriate. Anyone has experience working with the city on rehabs/construction projects? Would you consider the city landlord-friendly (for California!)? Any advice appreciated!

@Mark De sagun I'm curious as to what you decided to do. I'm looking to do a seismic retrofit for a house in Pasadena. I got four quotes from four contractors for a "brace and bolt" retrofit. The foundation is concrete masonry (grouted cinder blocks). Two contractors said we can't do it because with masonry foundations we either won't get the building permit, or if we get the building permit, it will fail the inspection. The other two contractors said yes, we can do it and gave quotes of around $8-10K.

Who is right? I'm now thinking of hiring a city inspector for a private consultation to get them to look at the foundation and say if, given the described work, they would sign off on it. Does that sound like a good idea? (Maybe an inspector from another city - everyone uses LA City plans, it doesn't have to be a Pasadena inspector).

@Peter A Spears Yes, the one attached ADU is the simplest option. Also, since this is intended for family - many jurisdictions allow adding a wet bar to a room (e.g. small bar sink), and if you can do that in Fresno plus add a lock on the door, you'll have a de facto JADU without the other headaches.

@Peter A Spears Just curious, what is the problem you're trying to solve? Maximize living space, maximize the number of units, etc? JADUs have some issues that make them less than useful in many scenarios. JADUs are not exempt from parking requirements, which means that if you convert the garage to a JADU, you will need to build a new garage elsewhere on the property as per zoning. You may gain 500 sf of space in one location and give up an almost equivalent amount to a new garage. Also, JADUs trigger the owner occupancy requirement.

@Izzie Y. 

That does seem like an interesting loophole. If you're sure that garages get counted towards lot coverage, and carports don't (but both can be used to convert to ADUs), I don't see anything that would stop you from doing this.

Of course if the 150 sq. ft. addition isn't so critical, you can bypass all this and just convert the garages into an ADU. Keep in mind also that having a multifamily structure on the property makes you eligible for two ADUs, as long as you have the space for them with 4 ft setbacks. So consider the option of adding a second ADU instead of enlarging an existing unit.

@Brandon Turner

A number of people alluded to this, with the best explanation IMHO by @Brian Lucier, but let me add my two cents: there is zoning, and then there is the building code.

A "legal nonconforming" building is a building that was built legally (as per required permits and zoning) at the time of construction. If zoning for the area was later changed, for example from allowing triplexes to allowing SFH only, the building was grandfathered in. A new building on this lot can only be an SFH. But an existing triplex can stay, given a set of conditions (which likely vary by municipality, but mostly have to do with avoiding major upgrades, renovation of more than X% of the property, or the building being vacant/condemned for more than a certain period of time).

Adding a unit by putting up partitions/doors to subdivide an existing property in an unsafe way and without permits may be illegal under any zoning. The issue here is the safety/fire code more so than the zoning. It's best to stay away from this, except where a path to both meeting code and legalization may exist (for example, California's ADU legislation under which unpermitted garage conversions, units permitted as rec rooms, unpermitted additions, etc can become legal residential units once building code and some limited zoning requirements are met).

The tricky part is to understand when zoning and building codes interact, i.e. when required renovations to bring a property up to code trigger the loss of legal nonconforming status.

@Jesse Hodges I think with the coronavirus recession many cities will default. If Scranton does, it will be in good company. Can it get worse? Of course it can, but it has been down and out for so long, at least the people there won't be shocked when services get cut, unlike residents of some other cities. It already defaulted a few years ago, like Detroit, and will eventually turn the corner, like Detroit. But it's hard to say how long that will take. The bottom line is, to me, is that Scranton has attractive, if deteriorating, housing stock, several colleges, and service/manufacturing industries nearby. Which means that as long as there are people who go to school/work there, and want to live in a place where they can walk to get a cup of coffee (even if it's at a gas station), there will be a solid rental market there.

As far as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, I would consider it a single area from the property management/development perspective (the larger property managers in the area cover it all), but they are distinctive submarkets as far as home prices, rents, and tenants.

@Jesse Hodges Like many older, rustbelt cities, Scranton has high municipal pension, infrastructure maintenance, and other obligations with a shrinking tax base (and a higher than average level of corruption). It's a city of 80,000 collecting taxes to attempt to cover debt and maintenance costs of a city of 140,000.

If the new mayor cleans up and streamlines the bureaucracy, invests in basic sidewalk maintenance and cleaning, and maybe lowers some of the more business-unfriendly taxes, as opposed to pursuing a conventional Growth Ponzi Scheme strategy, Scranton has a chance at revitalization.

@Adam Guiffrida Can you explain a little more about the current status of the rental registrations? Are they still required, there's just no fee attached to them?

Also, what is your take on the new Scranton mayor?