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 #1098432 · Backed by 120+ delivered Southern California ADUs · Same construction standard, permit-ready across the 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.
Bay Area ADU Desk
1 Sansome St, Suite 3500, San Francisco, CA 94104 · (415) 555-0184
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.
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
- BBB A+ Accredited