ADUs & Additions in Manhattan Beach

City of Manhattan Beach Community Development Department, Building and Safety Division. Building permits are issued by the Building and Safety Division of the City's Community Development Department, with applications accepted through the Citizen Self Service portal. Manhattan Beach has a certified Local Coastal Program, so the City itself issues Coastal Development Permits under the Coastal Development Permit Procedures chapter of that program, and certain decisions remain appealable to the California Coastal Commission. Coastal Zone projects that add floor area, alter exterior elevations, or add decks and roof decks generally require that permit in addition to the building permit. Plan review here covers architectural, structural, geotechnical, grading and drainage, energy and fire life safety, so timing varies with scope. We prepare the drawings, make the submittal and handle plan-check corrections ourselves, so you are not the one chasing the city.

Tight and rectangular near the beach — commonly around 30 by 90 feet with three-foot side setbacks — with larger, steeply sloped view parcels up the hill and wider conventional lots inland. In practice that means loose beach sand and dune deposits across much of the west side require engineered shoring, and often caissons, before excavation for a basement, pool or equipment vault..

All of it, including Sand Section, Tree Section, Hill Section, El Porto. We are based in Los Angeles at Cahuenga Pass, so Manhattan Beach is a short run for our crews rather than a job we service from out of the area.

Detached ADU in this market generally runs $150,000 to $400,000+. What moves it is square footage, finish level, utility runs, and site access; garage conversions typically run well below a ground-up detached build. We give line-item pricing after seeing the site rather than quoting a number over the phone.

Plan a realistic year. Design and engineering typically take one to three months, city plan check and corrections add several more, and construction usually runs four to eight months depending on size and site access.

Usually yes, and often substantially, because the foundation, walls and roof already exist. The trade-offs are that you lose the garage, and older slabs and framing sometimes need upgrading to meet current code.

California ADU law is designed to allow long-term rental, and an ADU is one of the few ways to add rentable square footage to a single-family lot. Short-term rental rules vary by city, so confirm your local ordinance before counting on that income.

Yes. Plans, engineering, Title 24 and the city submittal are all handled in-house, including responding to plan-check corrections. That is a service we sell on its own, so it is not something we hand off.