SACKS REAL ESTATE CONSULTING offers
highly expert, surprisingly affordable
zoning and entitlement assistance
We specialize in providing high quality,
cost-effective, personalized zoning
analysis and strategic planning.
Whether you want to subdivide land,
Serve alcohol at your restaurant,
Open a business which requires City permits,
Or encounter issues with an existing property,
SACKS REAL ESTATE CONSULTING can help.
Specializing in Los Angeles, the San Fernando
Valley, West Hollywood, and other Los Angeles-
area jurisdictions.
SACKS REAL ESTATE CONSULTING helps developers obtain the needed entitlements for their commercial and residential projects, including small lot subdivisions, condominiums, restaurants, auto dealerships, offices, and other commercial uses. Past projects have successfully addressed and resolved issues pertaining to traffic, parking, aesthetics, noise, affordable housing, historic preservation, and other neighborhood and local governmental concerns typical of the many infill projects the company has handled.
In addition to providing entitlement processing, site identification/analysis, and community outreach services, SREC frequently becomes involved in the strategic and creative aspects of clients' projects.
Past projects have involved issues pertaining to the Small Lot Subdivision Ordinance, the California Environmental Quality Act, the Coastal Act, the Subdivision Map Act, Historic Preservation Law, Redevelopment Law, Housing Element Law, the Permit Streamlining Act, the Ellis Act, and the Mello Act.
Company founder Valerie Sacks formed her land use consulting firm after practicing law in both the public and private sectors in the Los Angeles area, first as a Deputy Attorney General for the State of California and subsequently as a transactional land use attorney for the Westside law firms of Christensen, Miller, Fink, Jacobs, Glaser, Weil, and Shapiro, L.L.P., and Harding, Larmore, Kutcher, and
Kozal. Ms. Sacks attended the University of Arizona School of Law. She graduated in the top 10% of her class and with high honors, having been recognized repeatedly for her academic and related achievements throughout her law school career. Prior to entering law school, Ms. Sacks obtained a Masters Degree in cultural anthropology from the University of Arizona and her Bachelors degree from the University of California at Berkeley.
For more information about Ms. Sacks' legal background or to contact her for legal services, please see her profile on www.Avvo.com.
The general category of "condominium" includes a wide variety of product types, including new condominiums that look like apartments; condominium conversions; mixed use; joint live-work lofts; commercial or industrial condos; and affordable housing and other density bonus projects. Even the most straightforward-seeming condominium project can become a more complex project in the face of community opposition, specific plan regulations, street dedication requirements, protected trees, potential historic resources, or other issues that may arise in the process of obtaining a parcel map (four or fewer units) or a tract map (greater than four units).
The City of Los Angeles passed the Small Lot Subdivision Ordinance in early 2005 to facilitate the production of an alternative means of developing sites zoned for multifamily residential uses. Unlike condominiums, the owner of each small lot unit owns the property from the dirt to the sky. Reduced setback and lot size requirements may apply. A completed project may need reciprocal easements and maintenance agreements rather than a homeowners' association.
Small Lot Subdivisions present unique challenges in terms of strategic planning, site design, project management, and entitlements. The City has published Guidelines, which illustrates the kinds of development that City planners had in mind when drafting the Ordinance.
Sander Architects recommended Sacks Real Estate Consulting to the developer of this project, another sustainably designed, architecturally striking condominium project. This project, located in West Los Angeles, required and was granted a parcel map for this two-unit townhome-style project. A pair of freestanding townhomes that face one another over a drivable courtyard, these two houses are like siblings--related but not identical. They both have three floors with generous, double-height living spaces in the main living areas.
SANDER ARCHITECTS
Sacks Real Estate Consulting assisted with the City subdivision process for this seven-unit loft condominium development located just east of the Larchmont area of Hancock Park. The Principals, an award-winning architecture and development firm, wore both hats for this project. The units incorporate polished concrete floors, 14 ceilings, 24 double-height spaces, glass roll-up garage doors, roof decks with 360 degree views, a high level of furnishings and finishings throughout, and numerous green-friendly features.
ASSEMBLEDGE+
sbl dwellings approached SREC for help with her proposed 8-unit condominium project in a bustling and rapidly revitalizing part of North Hollywood. The Site, a corner lot, was impeded by extensive street dedication requirements and trees of a protected species-type that would need to be removed in order for the Site to be developed.
The team engaged in extensive outreach to the community, the CRA, the Council Office, the Bureau of Engineering, and the Urban Forestry Division in an effort to obtain a waiver of the dedication requirements. In addition, variances and
SBL DWELLINGS
adjustments to reduce the setback requirements were requested in the event the City compelled the street widenings. The concerns regarding the trees were aided by these outreach efforts and sbl dwellings' visionary decision to replace the dilapidated oak and other trees on the Site with healthy, mature oaks. The stunning design by Sander Architects, the project architect, and sbl dwellings' decision to make the project as green as possible helped SREC successfully persuade the community and the decision makers that this was a remarkable project which deserved to have the dedication requirements waived.
OSBORN ARCHITECTS
Sacks Real Estate Consulting was brought in to assist with the administrative appeal of this Small Lot Subdivision project. The initial application called for a five lot, five-unit small lot subdivision to be located on an 8,050 s.f. RD 1.5-zoned lot in North Hollywood. The Advisory Agency had arbitrarily and capriciously approved the project for only four lots, despite the fact that the project as submitted complied with all applicable zoning and related standards.
The Applicant appealled the project to the Area Planning Commission and brought Sacks Real Estate Consulting in to help with the appeal. Sacks Real Estate Consulting spearheaded the successful effort to get the Advisory Agency's decision overturned on appeal.
The City passed the Small Lot Subidivision Ordinance in early 2005 to facilitate the production of an alternative means of developing sites zoned for multifamily residential uses. Unlike condominiums, the owner of each small lot unit owns the property from the dirt to the sky. There may be reciprocal easements and maintenance agreements, but no homeowners association. Sander Architects was selected not only because of their design talents but also because their hybrid house system seemed a perfect fit for the project. This is a partial prefab system that permits significant savings in construction costs. Hybrid House also provides interesting architectural possibilities and the ability to easily incorporate many sustainable features, including reduced construction waste.
Small Lot Subdivisions present unique challenges in terms of strategic planning, site planning, and entitlements. Valerie Sacks had extensive involvement with all aspects of the project, going far beyond the entitlement and community outreach process. Ms. Sacks also has extensive project management duties, which included playing an integral role in site selection and analysis, strategic planning, legal advising, and coordination and consultation with the architect, the civil engineer, and other consultants.
Sacks Real Estate Consulting has become involved with dozens of operational planning permits, typically called "conditional use permits," in a variety of Southern California jurisdictions. Past projects have included restaurants or grocery stores seeking to serve or sell alcohol, commercial corner/"mini shopping center" CUPs, automobile uses, mixed-use projects, and other commercial or mixed commercial/residential uses.
COMMERCIAL CORNER CUPS
RESTAURANT/BAR CUPS
In addition to regulation by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, most cities and counties impose additional levels of regulation on alcohol sales at a local level. Sacks Real Estate Consulting has handled numerous "booze" cases, both on-site (restaurants and bars) and off-site (alcohol sales at grocery or liquor stores). Sacks Real Estate Consulting's practical, knowledgeable, and meticulous approach has led to an outstanding success rate in obtaining approval of these often-controversial requests.
Sacks Real Estate Consulting took over the process of obtaining needed City permits for this auto dealership and repair shop, which specializes in the sale and repair of high-end cars, from another expeditor. The project fell within an Interim Control Ordinance area that prohibited new automobile uses pending the passage of a new ordinance that imposed aesthetic and operational requirements on new auto uses. This ordinance required many such uses to apply for a CUP, an expensive and time-consuming process requiring extensive public input. The expeditor initially retained by Blackhorse Motors informed the owner than he would need to go before
the Zoning Administrator for a CUP and the City Council for a hardship waiver because of the ICO. When Sacks Real Estate Consulting took over the process, a careful review of the ordinance revealed that Blackhorse Motors did not need a hardship waiver, and in fact did not need a CUP at all.
The entire matter was thereafter handled over the counter. Sacks Real Estate Consulting's involvement with this matter thereby saved the client thousands of dollars in what could have been unneeded consultant time, unnecessary City fees, and lost business based on delays.
Sacks Real Estate Consulting assisted with the Conditional Use Permit process for a Commercial Corner Shopping Center in Woodland Hills on behalf of the owner of the shopping center and the tenant, Starbucks. The small, beautifully rehabbed shopping center is located in a charming commercial stretch of Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Woodland Hills, which is surrounded on all sides by single-family residential uses.
Starbucks need to open early in the morning at a location immediately adjacent to residences triggered the need for the CUP. Sacks Real Estate Consulting was tasked with the project of successfully obtaining a CUP with the operational conditions needed by Starbucks within a
very tight time frame. The shopping center's proximity to residences generated significant controversy despite the considerable support for the project on the part of many of the neighbors and local businesses. Sacks Real Estate Consulting was extensively involved in proactive community outreach efforts and was instrumental in obtaining a timely public hearing date and decision letter from the City.
CONTACT:
5900 Wilshire Blvd.
Suite 2600
Los Angeles, CA 90036
310.876.0924- Office
310.943.3322- Fax
info_sacksconsulting.net
