General Contractor in Manhattan Beach

Green Design and Build is a licensed general contractor (CSLB #1110975) based at 16120 Sherman Way in Van Nuys, about 25 miles north of Manhattan Beach up the 405. We are a full-service residential general contractor and design-build remodeler for projects of every size — kitchens, bathrooms, ADUs, room additions and whole-home renovations — serving homeowners across Los Angeles County, Orange County, Ventura County, western Riverside County and western San Bernardino County. Led by Dekel Sofer, we have completed hundreds of projects and hold a 4.7-star rating across 146 Yelp reviews.

Manhattan Beach is unlike anywhere else we work. Most of the city west of Valley, Manor and Vista Drives sits inside the California Coastal Zone, which adds a second permit and a second rulebook to an ordinary remodel. Lots in the Sand Section are often under 3,000 square feet. And the zoning does not work the way it does anywhere in the Valley — the same zone can mean a 26-foot height limit on one side of town and 30 feet on the other. This page covers what that actually means for your project.

The Coastal Zone changes the job

Roughly the western third of a mile of the city — everything seaward of Valley, Manor and Vista Drives — is in the Coastal Zone. Manhattan Beach has a certified Local Coastal Program: the Land Use Plan was certified in 1981 and the Implementation Plan in 1994, which means the city issues the Coastal Development Permit, not the Coastal Commission. Confirm your parcel on the city’s interactive map before assuming either way.

The 10 percent rule is the trigger that catches homeowners out. Improvements to an existing single-family home are exempt from a Coastal Development Permit — until the project increases floor area by 10 percent or more, adds a story, or involves a guest house, a structure on the beach, or work within 50 feet of a coastal bluff. A 9 percent addition and an 11 percent addition are procedurally different projects. We size the scope against that line deliberately and tell you which side of it you are on before you commit to a design.

Strand-adjacent properties add an appeal window. Development between the sea and the first public road paralleling the sea, or within 300 feet of the inland extent of the beach, is appealable to the Coastal Commission after the city acts. Appeals run ten working days from the Commission’s receipt of the city’s notice of final action. Further inland but still in the Coastal Zone, the city’s decision is final locally.

Right now there are two rulebooks and they are out of sync. The City Council adopted Local Coastal Program amendments on 1 April 2025 and 2 December 2025 — including a new coastal ADU chapter — and the city states these are pending certification by the Coastal Commission and not yet effective. So an inland project follows the newer Title 10 code, and a Coastal Zone project is still governed by the older certified LCP text. A contractor quoting the wrong chapter to a Sand Section client is quoting the wrong rules.

Permits in Manhattan Beach: how we run it

Residential permits go through the Community Development Department at 1400 Highland Avenue. The Permitting Center takes walk-ins Monday to Thursday 8:00–11:30 AM and 1:30–5:00 PM, and Friday 8:00–11:30 AM and 1:30–4:00 PM. Plan check is electronic through the Citizen Self Service portal, with plans uploaded as one combined PDF and reports as separate files. Inspections are requested through the same portal no later than 3:00 PM the business day before. The 2025 California Building Codes have been in effect here since 1 January 2026.

Single-family submittals require a boundary and topographic survey stamped by a licensed land surveyor. That is not optional and it is not fast to arrange after the fact, so we order it at the start.

The 30-day excavation notice. Where excavation goes deeper than the neighbouring foundations and closer to the line than that depth, the city requires written notice to adjoining owners 30 days in advance — by certified mail, return receipt requested, using the city’s own sample letter, with owner details from the County Assessor. State code asks for ten days. Manhattan Beach asks for thirty, and no permit issues until the return receipts are in the file. On a small lot with a basement, this sits directly on the critical path.

Construction hours are tighter than most of Los Angeles. Monday to Friday 7:30 AM to 6:00 PM, Saturday 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and no work at all on Sundays or on the eleven city holidays. Crews used to Valley hours lose a day a week here if the schedule is not built for it.

Manhattan Beach housing stock, by area

The Sand Section, including the walk streets. The city’s own General Plan describes lots here as “small, usually less than 3,000 square feet,” with more than 5,600 housing units, making it the most densely populated neighbourhood in the city. This is Area District III/IV ground: 30-foot height limit, 5-foot front setback, 1-foot corner side setback. Vehicle access comes off the alley, because the walk streets are pedestrian. Uncovered decks, porches and landings may sit at zero clearance from a numbered walk-street line — but non-complying walk-street deck encroachments are expressly prohibited under the Local Coastal Program, so the distinction between a complying deck and an encroachment matters.

El Porto and the north end. The highest residential density in the city, and yet, as the General Plan puts it, “most buildings are low-profile structures of two or three stories.” The north end is also the only part of Manhattan Beach where the city’s Community Safety Element recognises landslide hazards and unstable soil.

The Tree Section. The streets east of Pacific named for trees — Palm, Walnut, Pine, Elm, Oak — almost exclusively single-family, with an “almost rural feel” and, in the city’s words, “an absence of sidewalks, curbs, and gutters” across most of it. That last detail is operational: staging, drainage and driveway aprons all behave differently where there is no curb line to work to.

The Hill Section. Some of the largest residential lots in Manhattan Beach, ocean and downtown views, and some of the largest homes. Larger lots usually mean Area District I or II, which means a 26-foot height limit and a 20-foot front setback rather than the Sand Section’s 30 and 5.

East Manhattan Beach. Distinct single-family neighbourhoods including Liberty Village and the Poets Section, with higher-density housing and commercial fronting Manhattan Beach, Artesia and Aviation Boulevards.

Area Districts, not just zoning

This is the single most common mistake outsiders make. Manhattan Beach zones by base district (RS, RM, RH) and by Area District (I, II, III, IV), and the Area District drives the numbers.

• Area Districts I and II: minimum lot 7,500 sq ft, minimum width 50 ft, front setback 20 ft, rear 12 ft minimum, maximum height 26 ft in RS and RM.
• Area Districts III and IV: minimum lot 2,700 sq ft, minimum width 30 ft, front setback 5 ft, corner side 1 ft, maximum height 30 ft.

Anyone who quotes you a single citywide setback or height figure has not looked up your Area District.

There is no conventional lot-coverage rule. The binding control is Maximum Buildable Floor Area, a factor applied to lot area that varies by lot size, base district and Area District. Two things are excluded from that calculation and they shape almost every project here: parking area up to 400 square feet (600 where three spaces are provided), and basement space entirely below local grade, plus up to 200 square feet of storage.

That basement exclusion is why so much Manhattan Beach work is deep excavation on sand, with shoring and dewatering. On a 2,700-square-foot lot it is the only way to add real square footage without spending buildable floor area — and it is exactly why the 30-day neighbour notice matters so much here.

One more that surprises people: a single-family home 3,600 square feet or larger requires three enclosed parking spaces, against two below that threshold. Crossing 3,600 square feet in a remodel can quietly add a garage bay to the design.

What we build in Manhattan Beach

• Kitchen remodeling — including the structural and service upgrades that come with opening up an older beach house.
• Bathroom remodeling.
• Room additions, sized deliberately against the 10 percent Coastal Development Permit threshold.
• Whole-home renovations and down-to-the-studs rebuilds.
• Foundation and structural work, including basements, shoring and drainage on sand.
• ADUs and garage conversions, with the coastal permit question answered first.
• Roofing, windows and doors, flooring, painting, patio covers, pavers and outdoor living.
• Plumbing and electrical upgrades as part of remodels, performed by licensed tradespeople.

ADUs in Manhattan Beach

Manhattan Beach allows detached ADUs, attached ADUs, conversions of existing structures including garages, and junior ADUs. A single-family lot may have a maximum of two ADUs total, of which only one may be detached. An attached ADU may not exceed 50 percent of the buildable floor area of the existing house, subject to an 800-square-foot floor regardless of other restrictions. JADUs run 150 to 500 square feet.

No setback is required for an ADU inside an existing structure; otherwise it is 4 feet side and rear, with 5 feet of building separation for a detached unit. An ADU above or below a detached garage is capped at 26 feet total height. Parking is one space, waived in several common situations including within half a mile of transit; JADUs require none. Owner occupancy is not required for an ADU but is required for a JADU, and both carry a recorded covenant restricting rentals to terms of 30 days or longer — so no short-term letting.

In the Coastal Zone an ADU is a two-permit project. State ADU law does not override the Coastal Act, so unless the work is exempt it needs a Coastal Development Permit consistent with the certified Local Coastal Program — and the city’s own coastal ADU chapter, adopted in April 2025, is still awaiting Commission certification. Our ADU rules calculator shows the state-law floor for your lot.

Utilities

Southern California Edison provides electric service in Manhattan Beach, so a 200-amp panel upgrade for a kitchen, EV charger or ADU is coordinated with SCE alongside the city’s electrical permit and inspection. The city itself is the direct provider of water, sewer and storm drain service through the Public Works Utilities Division, with billing through Revenue Services in Finance.

What homeowners say

From our Google reviews:

I’ve gotta give a big shoutout to Green Design and Build for the awesome kitchen remodel – they totally nailed it with a solid 5/5! And can we talk about that kitchen island? It’s like a work of art.

Kori Ohayon

I’m happy with how my kitchen remodel turned out! David was great at problem solving, always found great solutions every time. The whole process was smooth, and the results are so good, I am very pleased.

Munir Khan

More on our About page.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a Coastal Development Permit to remodel in Manhattan Beach?

It depends on where the property sits and how much floor area you add. Roughly everything seaward of Valley, Manor and Vista Drives is in the Coastal Zone. Improvements to an existing single-family home are exempt until the project increases floor area by 10 percent or more, adds a story, or involves work near a coastal bluff or on the beach. Manhattan Beach has a certified Local Coastal Program, so the city issues the permit rather than the Coastal Commission — though development between the sea and the first public road, or within 300 feet of the beach, remains appealable to the Commission. Green Design and Build confirms the parcel and the exemption line before design work starts.

How tall can I build in Manhattan Beach?

It depends on your Area District, not just your zone. In Area Districts I and II the limit for RS and RM is 26 feet, with a 20-foot front setback. In Area Districts III and IV — which includes the Sand Section — it is 30 feet, with a 5-foot front setback. This is why a single citywide figure is always wrong here.

Why do so many Manhattan Beach projects include a basement?

Because basement area entirely below local grade is excluded from Maximum Buildable Floor Area, along with up to 200 square feet of storage and up to 400 square feet of parking. On a Sand Section lot of under 3,000 square feet, a basement is the only way to add usable space without consuming buildable floor area. It also means excavation, shoring and dewatering in sand, and the city’s 30-day certified-mail notice to neighbouring owners before a permit will issue.

How much does a kitchen remodel cost in Manhattan Beach?

It depends on whether walls come out, what the existing plumbing and panel need, whether the work crosses the Coastal Development Permit threshold, and the finish level. Green Design and Build provides an itemised written estimate after a free site visit rather than a per-square-foot guess.

What are the construction hours in Manhattan Beach?

Monday to Friday 7:30 AM to 6:00 PM, Saturday 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and no construction on Sundays or on the city’s eleven listed holidays. These are narrower than most Los Angeles-area cities, and we build the schedule around them rather than discovering them mid-project.

Are you licensed to work in Manhattan Beach?

Yes. Green Design and Build holds California General Building Contractor licence CSLB #1110975 and is licensed, bonded and insured for residential work in Manhattan Beach and throughout Los Angeles County. The licence can be verified on the Contractors State License Board website. HVAC, plumbing and electrical work on our projects is performed by licensed tradespeople.

A recent Manhattan Beach project

A complete kitchen remodel in Manhattan Beach, finished in 2024. A very old kitchen, opened up to the living room and rebuilt: white shaker cabinets, dark quartz on the perimeter, a marble-look island on a charcoal base, plantation shutters and wide plank floors. See the full set on our Manhattan Beach kitchen remodel page.

Plan your Manhattan Beach remodel

Tell us the street and what you want to build, and we will schedule a free site visit, confirm whether your parcel is in the Coastal Zone and which Area District governs it, and give you a written, itemised estimate.