Bay Area ADU Builder.
Permit-ready ADUs, garage conversions, JADUs, additions, and rental units across San Francisco, Oakland, Richmond, Berkeley, Walnut Creek, Fremont, San Jose, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Livermore, and the surrounding Bay Area.
Licensed California contractor · CSLB #1156772 · Bay Area design-build desk · Permit-ready across San Francisco, the Peninsula, and the East Bay.
Not just small houses.
Bay Area ADU projects are permit, access, utility, and site-condition projects. A 600 sqft garage conversion in Oakland, a detached ADU in San Jose, and a hillside backyard unit near San Francisco can each require a different plan, budget, and review path. We map yours before drawing begins so the scope holds up through plan check, construction, and rental.
Six formats. One construction standard.
Every Bay Area lot is different. These six formats cover the permit envelope of nearly every parcel we evaluate.
Studio ADU
From feasibility to rental-ready studio unit. The smallest detached footprint we build, often the fastest to permit.
One-bedroom ADU
A full living space for rental income, family housing, or guest use. Our most-requested Bay Area format.
Two-bedroom ADU
A small house built for long-term value and multi-generational use across denser Bay Area lots.
Garage conversion
Turn underused garage space into legal, finished living area without expanding your footprint.
JADU
Compact internal unit carved out of the primary home where setbacks or access make a detached unit impractical.
Addition / hybrid
For lots where the right answer is a remodel, addition, and ADU strategy together rather than a stand-alone build.
One region. Many permit rooms.
San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Fremont, Walnut Creek, Palo Alto, Richmond, Berkeley, Hayward, and surrounding cities each review ADUs differently. We help homeowners understand feasibility, setbacks, utilities, fire separation, parking, access, drainage, hillside conditions, and inspection sequencing before construction starts.
One region. Many permit rooms.
Our Bay Area crew covers the core Bay Area and selected surrounding cities depending on project size, access, schedule, and permit complexity.
San Francisco headquarters.
555 California Street, Financial District — between Kearny & Montgomery.
- Headquarters
- 555 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94104
San Francisco Bay Area Get directions → - Lead consultant
- Maya BergmanBay Area Principal · Permit strategist
- At this desk
- In-person consults by appointment · English · Mandarin · Hebrew
Validated parking at 555 California garage · Montgomery BART 4 min walk
CSLB #1156772 · License & insurance details on request
San Francisco Bay Area
Demonstration desk — values are sample planning ranges and should be replaced with verified live or internal data before publishing.
A rental-ready backyard unitin Oakland.
A representative scope for the Bay Area desk — a detached one-bedroom unit built for long-term rental income on a typical East Bay lot. Documented as a project study rather than a delivered project until the desk's first photographed completion comes online.
- Footprint
- 620 sqft
- Build
- 18 weeks
- Neighborhood
- Oakland · East Bay
- Permit
- City review · project study
Bay Area service hubs.
Each Bay Area service has its own page with city-specific permit notes, costs, and FAQ.
ADU & Conversions
Detached ADUs, garage conversions, JADUs.Ground-Up Construction
New construction and hillside builds.Development & Investor
Small multifamily and 2–6 unit feasibility.Renovation & Additions
Home additions, kitchens, baths, whole-home.Trades & Building Systems
Roofing, siding, decks, foundation, framing, retrofits.- Bay Area RoofingOpen hub →
- Bay Area Siding & StuccoOpen hub →
- Bay Area Decks & Outdoor LivingOpen hub →
- Bay Area Concrete & FlatworkOpen hub →
- Bay Area Windows & DoorsOpen hub →
- Bay Area Foundation Repair & ReplacementOpen hub →
- Bay Area Framing & Structural WorkOpen hub →
- Bay Area Seismic RetrofitOpen hub →
Commercial & Property Services
TI buildouts, HOAs, property management — by request.Bay Area cities — dedicated pages.
Every city page links only to Bay Area services and the Bay Area desk — never routed across regions.
- San Francisco ADU BuilderSan Francisco DBI →
- Oakland ADU BuilderCity of Oakland Planning & Building →
- Berkeley ADU BuilderCity of Berkeley Planning & Permits →
- San Jose ADU BuilderCity of San Jose PBCE →
- Palo Alto ADU BuilderCity of Palo Alto Planning & Development →
- Fremont ADU BuilderCity of Fremont Community Development →
- Sunnyvale ADU BuilderCity of Sunnyvale Community Development →
- Walnut Creek ADU BuilderCity of Walnut Creek Community Development →
- San Mateo ADU BuilderCity of San Mateo Community Development →
- Redwood City ADU BuilderCity of Redwood City Community Development →
- Mountain View ADU BuilderCity of Mountain View Community Development →
- Santa Clara ADU BuilderCity of Santa Clara Community Development →
- Hayward ADU BuilderCity of Hayward Development Services →
- Richmond ADU BuilderCity of Richmond Planning & Building →
- Livermore ADU BuilderCity of Livermore Community Development →
- Concord ADU BuilderCity of Concord Community Development →
Bay Area owners, coming into the record.
As Bay Area projects are completed, this section will display verified local reviews from the Bay Area desk. Until then, the company-wide review record is kept separate and is clearly labeled as the Los Angeles desk's history.
Bay Area FAQ
Questions Bay Area homeowners ask first.
Cost, timing, permits, and rental income across SF, the East Bay, and the Peninsula.
What does an ADU cost in the Bay Area?
Turnkey detached new construction across the core Bay Area typically lands at roughly $400–$475 per finished sq ft, with site conditions, access, hillside work, and utility upgrades driving the spread. A signed feasibility brief replaces the range with a hardened number for your address.Do you build ADUs in San Francisco?
Yes — San Francisco ADUs run through the Planning Department and DBI under SF's local + state-aligned path. Setbacks, fire separation, and access for tight in-fill lots get evaluated during feasibility before plans are drawn.Do you work in Oakland?
Yes. Oakland is one of the Bay Area cities our desk focuses on most — detached ADUs, garage conversions, and additions across the flats, the hills, and the East Bay neighborhoods.Do you work in San Jose?
Yes — San Jose ADUs follow the city's pre-approved plan track or a custom design-build path depending on lot size, ownership goals, and rental strategy.Can I convert my garage into an ADU?
Most permitted, structurally sound garages in the Bay Area can be converted into a legal ADU. Foundation, fire separation, ceiling height, and utility tie-ins are the four things we verify during feasibility before committing to scope.Do you help with permits?
Permitting is the start of every engagement. We lead architectural, structural, Title 24, and city plan-check management end-to-end so you don't coordinate between separate firms.How long does a Bay Area ADU take?
Plan on roughly 10–14 months for detached new construction — about 14–22 weeks from signed agreement to permit-in-hand, then 20–30 weeks of construction. Garage conversions and JADUs compress that to 6–10 months.Can you check if my property qualifies?
Yes. Send the address through the contact form (select Bay Area as the region) and the Bay Area desk replies within one business day with a written feasibility brief: viable ADU formats, estimated cost band, and permit path.Do Bay Area ADUs rent for more than LA ADUs?
Per-unit rents in core San Francisco, Oakland, and Peninsula sub-markets generally run higher than LA County averages on a like-for-like basis, but build costs and utility upgrade requirements are typically higher too. The yield comparison is closer than the rent comparison.Can you build on hillside or tight-access lots?
Yes — hillside foundations, retaining walls, and tight-access lots are a routine part of Bay Area work. We size the scope and schedule against access conditions during feasibility instead of discovering them mid-construction.
Begin your projectin twenty minutes.
A short feasibility review of your lot — what you can build, roughly what it costs, and how long it will take. Free of charge. No sales call afterwards unless you ask for one.
- No obligation
- Reply within 24 hours
- License & insurance on request