Land Development and Entitlement Coordination
Entitlement is where a development's construction cost is actually written. Every condition of approval is a construction obligation, and most are agreed to before anyone has priced them.
We put a number on each condition while it can still be negotiated, then manage the infrastructure that delivers on it.
Conditions of approval are construction contracts in disguise
A tentative map or development agreement carries dozens of conditions. Widen this frontage. Underground that utility. Construct this drainage facility to a standard the agency will specify later. Provide this traffic mitigation before this many units. Each is a construction cost with a timing trigger, and they compound.
Developers who price conditions during the entitlement process negotiate better outcomes than those who discover the cost after approval, when the conditions are fixed.
Condition of approval cost modeling
We take the draft conditions and build a construction cost model: what each condition requires, what it will cost, when in the development sequence it is triggered, and what capital exposure it creates at each phase. That model supports the negotiation and then becomes the infrastructure budget.
Phasing strategy
The most valuable analysis in land development is usually about sequence. Which infrastructure must be built before the first unit can close, which can be deferred to a later phase, what bonding is required to defer it, and how each choice affects capital exposure and carrying cost. Small changes in phasing produce large changes in the capital required before first revenue.
- Backbone infrastructure sequencing and phase boundaries
- Trigger point analysis for each condition of approval
- Subdivision improvement agreement and bonding strategy
- Grading phase design to balance earthwork within each phase
- Utility phasing and interim service arrangements
- Fee timing and deferral opportunities
- Interim drainage and water quality facilities
- Model complex, sales, and construction access planning
Improvement plan support
As improvement plans are prepared, we provide constructability input and cost feedback so the civil engineer's design decisions are informed by their construction consequence. A grading design that balances on paper but requires a haul road through a future phase is a design problem that shows up as a construction cost.
Infrastructure delivery
Through construction we provide the construction management, cost control, and agency coordination required to deliver the improvements, secure agency acceptance, and release the subdivision bonds. See bond exoneration and CFD formation for the financing and release side of that work.
Land development scope
- Condition of approval cost modeling
- Entitlement process coordination
- Development agreement construction obligation review
- Phasing and sequencing strategy
- Backbone infrastructure budgeting
- Improvement plan constructability review
- Subdivision improvement agreement support
- Bonding strategy and amount negotiation
- Fee and exaction timing analysis
- Grading and earthwork phase design input
- Utility coordination and dry utility scheduling
- Infrastructure construction management
- Agency acceptance and bond exoneration
What you receive
Every engagement is scoped in writing before it begins, so you know exactly what is being produced and when.
Condition cost model
Every condition of approval priced, with its trigger point in the development sequence and its capital timing identified.
Phasing analysis
Alternative phasing scenarios modeled for capital exposure, infrastructure cost, and time to first revenue.
Backbone infrastructure budget
A detailed horizontal development budget covering grading, wet and dry utilities, drainage, streets, and landscape.
Bonding strategy
Recommended bond structure and amounts for subdivision improvement agreements, with a plan for staged release.
Improvement plan comments
Constructability and cost feedback on developing improvement plans, delivered while changes are still inexpensive.
Infrastructure delivery management
Construction management through improvement completion, agency acceptance, and bond exoneration.
Questions owners ask about this service
When should we bring you into the entitlement process?
When the draft conditions of approval first appear, and ideally before. That is the last point at which a condition can be negotiated, modified, or traded. After approval, the conditions are simply construction cost.
Do you prepare improvement plans?
No. We are not a civil engineering design firm. We work alongside your civil engineer, providing cost and constructability input on their design and managing the construction that follows.
Can you help us reduce our bond amounts?
Frequently. Bond amounts are typically set from an engineer's estimate, and those estimates are sometimes conservative or include work already completed. A documented, defensible cost analysis is the basis for negotiating an appropriate amount and for staged reduction as work is accepted.
What about projects in multiple jurisdictions?
Conditions, standards, fee structures, and acceptance procedures differ substantially between jurisdictions in Southern California. We model each separately rather than assuming that experience in one city transfers to the next.
Talk to us about Land Development and Entitlement Coordination
Send us the project details and we will tell you what a defensible scope of work looks like and what it would cost. Initial consultations carry no fee.
Send us the project
Tell us the site, the scope, and the deadline. Initial consultations carry no fee and no obligation.