A Development Journal
Building 7 Units
from a Duplex
The unfiltered story of a San Diego ADU development — the wins, the setbacks, and everything the Instagram investors don't show you.
The Story
3 years. One property. The latest chapter is up top — or scroll down to start from the beginning.
Four Things Everyone Assumed Were Handled
In construction, every task has an owner. In closeout, the default owner of every task is nobody. What one week of actually auditing my own project turned up.
The Affordable Unit That Costs Me Almost Nothing
How one deed-restricted unit unlocked five ADUs, why its rent cap sits above market, and the $0 lien I have to re-subordinate at every refinance
One Street Tree Between Me and the Finish Line
A water-meter upgrade, a notarized encroachment agreement, and a tree I was sure was the last gate. It wasn't. Here's what fourteen days of silence and a fourteen-minute reply taught me about closeout.
Running a $1.46M Project with AI
How Claude Code became my project manager, analyst, and document processor
$47K in Green Building Incentives
Two state programs, smart equipment choices, and how we tripled our initial rebate estimate
Powering 7 Units from One Meter
Solar panels, batteries, smart panels, and the technology that makes one property feel like a mini power grid
Builder's Risk Insurance: The Policy Nobody Explains
What it covers, what it doesn't, and the gotchas I learned from an insurance broker
What's Under Your Feet
The soil report that changed our foundation plans and why every builder needs one
The $0 Lien That Almost Blocked Everything
How a piece of paper with no money owed nearly killed our loan -- twice
Negotiating a $1.37M Construction Contract
How the contract works, what value engineering means, and why we split the savings 65/35
The Pivot to Arixa: Saved at the Last Minute
How one phone call replaced 4 months of failure and cut monthly costs from $25K to $3,900
The Lender That Couldn't Fund
4 months, 3 term sheet changes, and a lending model that couldn't find investors
Permitting 5 ADUs in San Diego
One building permit, $72K in fees, and the program that makes one unit affordable
11 Months Fighting SDGE
A 10-foot clearance rule that stalled a 'ministerial' permit, a state complaint, and the redesign that finally cleared the wires
Finding the Right Architect
Switching to 1070 Architecture and starting over -- the right way
The Year-Long Design Battle
How a missed detail and radio silence from my drafter cost me 12 months
Buying a Duplex to Build 7 Units
How a duplex in San Diego became a 7-unit project
Weekly Construction Updates
34 weeks of daily field reports with photos, weather, manpower logs, and inspection notes — straight from Buildern.
Built from the ground up — and written down as it happened.
The duplex became seven units. Every chapter here was written during the work, not polished after the fact — the failed lender, the 11-month utility fight, the loan that closed at the last minute. New chapters land as the leasing and refinance chapters unfold.