Site Analysis & Building Feasibility Studies for the Bay Area

A man on a ladder surveying a house property, looking over the roof of a home in the Eichler style.

Vacant Lot Evaluations, House Surveys, Design Proposals for Realtors, and More

Our extensive experience working across many Bay Area jurisdictions and their unique topologies gives us valuable insight on how to realize the potential of your property. For those who do not need our typical full service residential design services, we offer stand-alone site analysis & building feasibility studies to help clients establish a direction for potential future projects. Optionally, this service can be included as part of a larger project, especially for new build homes where establishing the “highest and best use” is paramount or with home remodels that involve refreshing older homes with tricky conditions.

Many projects, such as simple remodels or lots with simple conditions may not benefit much from a formal a study. We’re happy to have a free consultation with you to figure out what works best for your needs.

We also work with realtors to provide studies that help properties sell, or to provide buyers a better understanding of the potential of a property on the market.

Featured Projects

“We engaged him to do an update to a 1910 vintage home along with converting a garage into a Master Bedroom Ensuite. He quickly assessed our recently purchased home, even crawling under the house to evaluate the existing infrastructure. Throughout the project Sam was always available for questions.”

— ED & MARGIE C - CLIENT

FAQ

  • Our studies do not formally establish property lines or involve creation of detailed site plans. While your study might include site drawings, we produce documents & plans purely for the purpose of informing clients of the potential of their project & possible pitfalls they might run into.

    However, we are happy to connect you with licensed surveyors as part of our study should the need arise.

  • After a free consultation to evaluate the scope of the project, a total fee to create a Building Feasibility Study will be created on a flat fee basis. Depending on the scope of your project (e.g. deciding to create a master plan after the study), an hourly fee would be assessed at that time.

  • 2024 saw the adoption of state-wide regulations that aimed to ease the housing crisis by making the construction and use of Accessory Dwelling Units more flexible. This included expedited timelines for permit review, and relaxed building setback, height and parking requirements. However there are still site-specific constraints that may make an ADU untenable, so before design begins the creation of a building feasibility study can be helpful in outlining design parameters.

  • We certainly do! Before we embark on any project we will always offer a free consultation so that we can get to know each other and see if we’ll be a good fit. If so, we’ll be happy to provide design services, including consultation, for projects big or small.

Service Areas

…and throughout the Bay Area.