Build your dream Los Angeles home from the ground up. We provide turnkey construction management, handling everything from structural engineering to the final architectural details.
Building a new home in LA means clearing LADBS plan check, meeting R1 zoning rules, and budgeting for a project that can run $300 to over $1,500 per square foot depending on tier and lot. Apex Build manages the permit process, the plan check submittal, and the construction itself, so you're not learning City of LA building code on the fly.
Apex Build is licensed and insured to perform new construction general contracting work in Los Angeles. We serve homeowners and landowners across LA County who are planning a ground-up build, a teardown-rebuild, or a custom home on a flat or hillside lot.
Service area: Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Pasadena, Encino, Calabasas, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Studio City, Glendale, Long Beach, and surrounding LA County communities.
Site evaluation and feasibility review for flat-lot, hillside, and teardown-rebuild sites
Architectural and structural plan coordination
LADBS plan check submittal and permit management
R1 zoning review (setbacks, height limits, floor area ratio)
Full ground-up construction: foundation, framing, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, finishes
Coordination of school, park, and utility connection fees tied to your permit
Final walkthrough and closeout before move-in
1. Consultation. We review your lot, your budget range, and what you want to build, whether that's a spec home, a custom mid-range build, or a full custom luxury home.
2. Design and plan check prep. Your architect's plans get prepared for LADBS submittal. The zoning detail below applies to projects inside the City of Los Angeles; if your lot sits in Santa Monica, Pasadena, Calabasas, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Glendale, Long Beach, or another incorporated city, that city runs its own building and planning department with its own rules, and we plan around theirs instead. For a City of LA R1 lot, these R1 zoning basics matter: front setbacks generally can't be less than 20% of lot depth (though this doesn't need to exceed 20 feet), side yards run a minimum of 5 feet each (narrower lots under 50 feet wide use 10% of lot width, never less than 3 feet, plus 1 additional foot for every 10 feet of height above 18 feet), and rear yards need a flat 15-foot minimum. Height caps sit at 33 feet for sloped roofs over a 25% slope and 28 feet for flat roofs, outside hillside and coastal overlay zones. The Baseline Mansionization Ordinance also caps R1 floor area ratio at 0.45, so a 7,500-square-foot lot allows a maximum of 3,375 square feet of residential floor area. These are general zoning basics, not a substitute for confirming your specific lot with LADBS or a zoning professional.
3. Permit submittal. For City of Los Angeles projects, LADBS offers three plan check paths for residential work: Express Permit for qualifying small projects, Counter Plan Check for in-person same-day review on smaller jobs, and Regular Plan Check for standard review. For a regular LADBS plan check, initial review typically takes 4 to 8 weeks, and each correction cycle can add another 2 to 6 weeks. Custom single-family homes submitted with full structural plans usually take longer at the front end: initial LADBS review commonly runs 4 to 6 months, with total permit timelines of 8 to 16 months from first submittal to issuance. Applications go through the ePlanLA portal or the LADBS Services Portal, and LADBS publishes a permit fee calculator so you can estimate costs before you file. Projects outside City of LA jurisdiction go through that city's own building department instead, and timelines and paths differ there.
4. Construction. Once permits issue, we build. Spec homes typically run 12 to 18 months of construction. Custom mid-range homes run 18 to 24 months. Custom luxury and standard flat-lot builds also tend to fall in the 18 to 24 month range, with expedited schedules reaching 12 to 18 months. Hillside construction takes longer, often 30 to 60 months, given the added engineering and grading work.
5. Walkthrough and closeout. Before you move in, we walk the finished home with you, resolve any punch-list items, and close out final inspections with LADBS.
Cost depends heavily on tier, lot type, and location. Based on current LA-market cost data:
Spec or builder-grade new construction: roughly $300 to $400 per square foot
Custom mid-range new construction: roughly $350 to $550 per square foot
Custom luxury or hillside construction: roughly $500 to $1,500+ per square foot
Costs across the broader Los Angeles market for custom homes generally land in the $300 to $800+ per square foot range, and many custom LA homes start around $400 to $600 per square foot. A standard 2,500-square-foot flat-lot home often starts at $1 million to $1.5 million in construction cost alone, before land. Hillside or coastal lots typically add 30% to 50% on top of that.
On the Westside specifically, where lots and labor run higher, flat-lot custom construction tends to run $850 to $1,100 per square foot, moderately complex hillside work $1,000 to $1,400+, steep hillside high-end builds $1,400 to $1,800+, and top-tier full-amenity homes $1,800 to $2,500+. Subterranean construction adds roughly $1,000 per square foot or more. These Westside figures run higher than the citywide averages above, so treat them as a reference point for that specific submarket rather than a citywide baseline.
Permits and fees. Plan on $45,000 to $80,000 in total permitting and connection costs for a new single-family home: LADBS building permit fees of $18,000 to $30,000, school impact fees of $3 to $5 per square foot, park fees of $5,000 to $15,000 per unit, and combined sewer and water connection fees of $5,000 to $13,000.
Soft costs. Architect fees typically run $5,000 to $30,000, permit-related costs generally fall in the $10,000 to $50,000 range, and most builders recommend budgeting a 5% to 10% contingency on top of your construction budget for the unexpected.
We know the LADBS process, not just that it exists. Plenty of contractor pages say "we handle permits." For projects inside the City of Los Angeles, Apex Build can tell you which of the three LADBS plan check paths your project qualifies for, roughly how long each one takes, and what triggers a correction cycle.
We plan around real R1 zoning constraints. Setbacks, height limits, and floor area ratio decide what you can actually build on a City of LA R1 lot before a single wall goes up. We factor these in during design, not after LADBS sends the plans back. Santa Monica, Pasadena, Calabasas, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Glendale, and Long Beach each run their own building and planning department with their own zoning rules, not LADBS or LAMC R1, and we apply the correct local rules for wherever your project sits.
We give you tiered, sourced cost ranges instead of one flat number. Spec, custom mid-range, and custom luxury builds cost differently, and your lot type (flat, hillside, coastal) changes the math further. You get a realistic range for your specific project, not a generic estimate.
Licensed and insured. Apex Build carries the license and insurance required to perform general contracting work in Los Angeles.
Apex Build builds new homes throughout Los Angeles and the surrounding area, including Santa Monica, Pasadena, Encino, Calabasas, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Studio City, Glendale, and Long Beach. The LADBS permit paths and R1 zoning rules described on this page apply to City of Los Angeles projects. Santa Monica, Pasadena, Calabasas, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Glendale, and Long Beach are each their own incorporated city with their own building and planning department, and we work within whichever department has jurisdiction over your site.
Have questions? We've got answers. Here are some of the most common questions we receive from our customers.
Get a clear estimate and a realistic timeline before you commit to anything. We'll walk your property and tell you exactly what the work involves.
Request a no-obligation estimate based on your home and needs.
We're based in Los Angeles for fast response and scheduling.
We pull permits and manage inspections, so the paperwork doesn't land on you.
Consistent finishes that hold up over time
