City Exemptions: Don’t Count on Them

Robert Lopata

LOS ANGELES—Robert Lopata, president and co-founder of property management firm LBPM, has increased the units at many of his properties by converting existing square footage into legal units, and going through Building & Safety for approval. If landlords can meet all requirements, which may include safety upgrades or adding additional parking, then the Building & Safety department is almost sure to approve the unit. If you can’t meet the requirements, the alternative is to go through the variance process with the Planning Commission to get an exemption, but don’t count on it.

“One other way to expand the number of units in your property is to go through the variance process. That is a political process and you have to go through the Planning Commission,” Lopata tells GlobeSt.com. “To do that, you have to hire a land use attorney that will create a case for you to get the variance. If you win, that variance would exempt you from certain requirements that would otherwise stop you from adding square footage or converting square footage into a legal unit. We have not had success with the variance process. It becomes very expensive for a very uncertain outcome. You could spend $50,000 dollars or more to get through the process, and when you get there, it could be a no go. For that reason, often times, people back away from that.”