Maybe you are thinking about opening up a tiny brick and mortar store or building an in-law unit in your backyard. You are sure that because your project is small, it will be a small effort on everyone’s behalf, won’t take too long and be relatively cost effective.

Together with our clients, we have learned that no project is too small - and we want to share our experience with you through four stories below.

Just like you, we started small projects and thought it was going to be simple. Our clients underestimated the effort, we underestimated the effort, our engineers underestimated the effort and the contractors also underestimated the effort it takes to realize a special small project.

Some delightful small projects above. Storefronts at the top of the page and tiny homes right above. These are great examples of small projects that are not so small after all. Thank you Pinterest!

Three Not So Small Project Stories

Story #1 - Techie Couple and Their Midcentury Modern ADU

We had an opportunity to work with a very sophisticated couple in the Bay Area that wanted to build a dream retirement home in their backyard. We agreed that we would explore options and layouts and arrive at a unique design that would fulfill their dreams. So we did, and they were very happy with a midcentury modern-inspired concept of the home.

After we had the dream concept completed, it was time to get into the reality of construction cost estimates, engineering and permits. We let our client know ahead of time that because this was not a standard quality design ADU, it was going to cost more. The question was: How much more?

As we started to prepare an estimate set, we received an email from our client saying that they want to talk. We got onto a zoom call with them and found out that they didn’t want to go through with building their dream home because they did not want to invest more than the minimum for the construction. Let me remind you that our minimums in the Bay Area are very steep.

We suggested that we redesign the home to be more affordable, but they did not want to compromise on their dream. We get it!

All things considered, this was not a bad outcome for this project because after dreaming about the amazing place to live in, we got realistic and changed the course before getting into impossible expenses.

Lesson learned: even a small ADU can be very expensive if you have high aesthetic expectations. Good things cost more!

Story #2 - A Community Leader and Her Produce Sorting Space

We had a unique opportunity to work with an amazing woman whose goal was to bring fresh produce and food into “food deserts”. Her immediate project was to set up a produce processing center (a place to get the produce ready for the displays or the customer boxes). The space was existing, and all we needed to do was to bring in a walk-in cooler and get approvals for this project from the local authorities. Even though no food preparation was to take place in this space, the health department applied all of their strictest rules on the project, causing the project cost to climb to five times over the budget - which is difficult for a non-profit.

In case you are about to attempt a project that needs health department approvals, here is an abbreviated list of their requirements: special flooring, special ceiling, special wall cover, hand sink, 3 compartment sink, prep sink, mop sink, lockers, a lot of shelving.

The approvals were received quickly because the contractor had a good reputation with the health and building departments. At the time, the review was done over the counter, while currently, most small projects are being processed electronically and take a few weeks at a minimum.

The space was built and is in operation, bringing food to the communities in Oakland.

Lesson learned: if there is a food component to your project, the health department will not have any flexibility and your should be ready to pay for all of their requirements.

Story #3 - A Tiny Meat Market and a Very Determined Entrepreneur

An energetic entrepreneur approached us to help him with design and approvals for his future meat market. He selected a perfect location, right next to a bigger grocery store without the meat component, and signed the lease. He selected our team because we offered both an architect with experience in meat processing facilities and a spark of creativity. We also found a local MEP team that worked on this building before and knew the requirements of local authorities very well.

Everything was done right and we where ready for the tight schedule. And then… several big things happened that we could not have seen coming.

Unlucky for us, the city introduced a new online project intake and processing system and we became the guinea pigs. Our project was finally taken in, after weeks of trying and hearing back that “no one is familiar with the system yet”.

Submitting to the health department was better, or so we thought until we did not hear back for 6, 7, 8 weeks. Who knew that our plan checker would have had to take a lot of time off this summer and there would be no one to take over our review?

The review we waited for turned out unusually detailed, and even our MEP partner who worked with them for years was very surprised. We think it was the “meat” element that signaled for extra careful review on this project.

The next thing that came up was a base building condition that was not approvable without modification. We always advise clients to get an architect to assess the space before signing the lease, to make sure there are no problems with the base buildings. In this case, the space was leased before we came onboard, but we did have access to past drawings prepared by a good local architect that documented compliance and that have been approved by the city in the past.

However, the past approvals did not count this time and we were forced to comply with everything that has not been picked up in the past.

For a tiny store, solving base building problems is very expensive!

The client finally received approvals and the landlord eventually committed to pay for the common upgrades needed to make this project happen.

At this point you probably think, that the project went smooth from now on.

Nope.

The experienced local contractor kept dragging their feet and not delivering. Our client fired the contractor and hired a new one who was more aggressive and is finishing up the project as we wright this blog.

Lesson learned: even on small projects that seem easy on the surface, it’s best to stay realistic, keep pushing the project forward, but know that things along the way do come up often.