The investment in an Architect will more than pay for itself. I have gone in and corrected so many contractor and homeowner designs that I have lost count. If your looking for modern, then you do need an Architect to help you keep it simple. Tell them what your budget is so he is not designing for Pie in the Sky. Be sure he has a structural engineer on board so he isn't second guessing structural issues which come up during the design. Most often between the Architect and a structural engineer they can figure out solutions which are in keeping with the design. Most often a contractor will slap something together just cause it works and they are less understanding of the architectural quality you are looking for.
Yes, the question is whether I can afford to build something at all, not whether I use an architect or not. If we build we will certainly use an architect. Thanks for all the responses.
F414, building anything in Santa Monica is a lengthy, complicated process. The city can be very picky in asking for permits, plan check reviews, inspections, you'll probably need an urban runoff mitigation plan, building energy efficiency standards... There's just a lot of pitfalls building anything in Santa Monica that you wouldn't have to deal with in the city of Los Angeles. For larger projects, some developers take 4-5 years just to break ground.
A good local architect will know the right people and help expedite the process. I think with the right architect, you could have drawings to submit to the city in around 4-6 months.
If you want to budget less than $250/SF, you can try. Good luck! If you want to sub to work out yourself and run the job, going with bottom of the barrel subs and squeezing every penny out of them, you might be able to get down to $200/SF (hard costs). I wouldn't count on it. In greater LA, $200/SF for new contruction is pretty hard to get; in Santa Monica, it will be almost impossible.
Once you add in construction fees, arch. fees, structural engineering fees, plan checks & permit fees, you could tack another 20% on top of the hard costs. So if you go with $250/SF x 1.20, you've got about $300/SF not including the cost of land.
Los Angeles (Westside) construction cost?
Anybody have any idea what the cost per sq foot to build a single family residence there? Modern/ box style, traditional construction... Thanks.
250-500+
foundations are a big part of it, so if there is bad geology, add 150
I agree w/ spaceman. I wouldn't go lower than $250 unless you want something really crappy. Do mean with soft costs in or out?
sounds a bit high if you're just thinking hard costs
actually i'm the client so i am looking for all costs to build except those for the land itself. thanks for the responses.
sounds like a good question to ask your architect.
Yes, trying to get an idea if I need to get one or not... ' )
The investment in an Architect will more than pay for itself. I have gone in and corrected so many contractor and homeowner designs that I have lost count. If your looking for modern, then you do need an Architect to help you keep it simple. Tell them what your budget is so he is not designing for Pie in the Sky. Be sure he has a structural engineer on board so he isn't second guessing structural issues which come up during the design. Most often between the Architect and a structural engineer they can figure out solutions which are in keeping with the design. Most often a contractor will slap something together just cause it works and they are less understanding of the architectural quality you are looking for.
@snook_dude
Yes, the question is whether I can afford to build something at all, not whether I use an architect or not. If we build we will certainly use an architect. Thanks for all the responses.
F414, building anything in Santa Monica is a lengthy, complicated process. The city can be very picky in asking for permits, plan check reviews, inspections, you'll probably need an urban runoff mitigation plan, building energy efficiency standards... There's just a lot of pitfalls building anything in Santa Monica that you wouldn't have to deal with in the city of Los Angeles. For larger projects, some developers take 4-5 years just to break ground.
A good local architect will know the right people and help expedite the process. I think with the right architect, you could have drawings to submit to the city in around 4-6 months.
If you want to budget less than $250/SF, you can try. Good luck! If you want to sub to work out yourself and run the job, going with bottom of the barrel subs and squeezing every penny out of them, you might be able to get down to $200/SF (hard costs). I wouldn't count on it. In greater LA, $200/SF for new contruction is pretty hard to get; in Santa Monica, it will be almost impossible.
Once you add in construction fees, arch. fees, structural engineering fees, plan checks & permit fees, you could tack another 20% on top of the hard costs. So if you go with $250/SF x 1.20, you've got about $300/SF not including the cost of land.
And that is for something very basic.
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