About Us

The legal term is Accessory Dwelling Unit, or ADU. ADUs go by many names - granny flats, granny units, in-law apartments, or secondary suites - just to name a few. ADUs are a permanent structure that provides a fully-appointed living space in the backyards of existing homes. ADUs typically have at least 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom and a kitchen space.

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) have been known by many names: granny flats, in-law units, backyard cottages, secondary units and more. No matter what you call them, ADUs are an innovative, affordable, effective option for adding much-needed housing in California. HCD is the state’s leader on local ADU ordinances, which — while optional — have grown exponentially in number as more cities, counties, and homeowners become interested in ADUs as one solution to increasing the supply of affordable housing. 

•  ADUs are an affordable type of home to construct in California because they do not require paying for land, major new infrastructure, structured parking, or elevators.
• ADUs can provide a source of income for homeowners.
• ADUs are built with cost-effective wood frame construction, which is significantly less costly than homes in new multifamily infill buildings.
• ADUs allow extended families to be near one another while maintaining privacy.
• ADUs can provide as much living space as many newly-built apartments and condominiums, and they’re suited well for couples, small families, friends, young people, and seniors.
• ADUs give homeowners the flexibility to share independent living areas with family members and others, allowing seniors to age in place as they require more care.

Junior Accessory Dwelling Units (JADUs) are allowed to be created within the walls of a proposed or existing single-family residence and shall contain no more than 500 square feet. JADUs offer additional housing options. They may share central systems, contain a basic kitchen utilizing small plug-in appliances, may share a bathroom with the primary dwelling, all to reduce development costs. JADUs present no additional stress on utility services or infrastructure because they simply repurpose existing space within the residence and do not expand the dwellings planned occupancy. 

Each Empire ADU has been designed from the ground up by a team of world-class architects, with a focus on developing a space that is both perfect for living in and at-home in any backyard. 

If you live in the State of California, then the answer is most likely Yes. In some cities, the process is more challenging than others, so feel free to reach out with your name and address and we can quickly check your situation. 

Empire ADU permitting times depend on where you live. Legally, cities must approve your permit within 120 days. 

Yes. Installing an Empire ADU in your backyard will certainly increase your property value. After all, it is an additional 400+ sq feet of permanent living space on your lot. The increased bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen are viewed as additions to the primary home. Typically owners see their property value increase by 22%

Your main home's property tax basis will NOT be reassessed when you add an ADU (important for our CA homeowners due to Prop 13). Your property taxes will only increase by the value of the ADU on your property. Customers tell us this is generally an increase of ~$1,000 to $2,000 per year. 

At Empire ADU, we offer a curated set of pre-arranged financing options through partners. Depending on your situation, we can help you tap into your home equity (through a HELOC or Cash-out Refi), obtain a traditional loan (construction loan, renovation loan), or take advantage of "zero-down" financing options through our partners who take fractional ownership in your home in exchange for the cash to build an ADU. Talk to us and we'll introduce you to the right parties. 

If you have plenty of access space for us to move it, via rollers, into the backyard, then we’ll do that. If you have a bit less access space, we will use a crane to lift the Empire ADU over your main home. 

Yes. If you live in the main house, you can rent your Empire ADU to anyone you please - aging parents, children back from school, a teacher, a local firefighter - the possibilities are endless 

No. Your Empire ADU unit is constructed in factory to the highest standards of modular home construction. Empire ADU's are built to be permanently installed on a foundation and permanently connected to utilities. They are considered “Real Property” once fully installed. 

This answer depends on which city you live in. Some cities allow this, while many others don’t. If you have this in mind, feel free to contact us and we will walk you through your options. 

This depends on where you live, the size of your lot and the size of your primary home. Generally any ADU under 500 sq ft is legal across California. 

Yes. We offer multiple exterior siding options and colors, roofing colors and interior flooring and paint colors. You aren’t able to move any walls within your Empire ADU, but after the thousands of hours we’ve put into designing your Empire ADU, trust us - you won’t want to. 

Yes, we can add solar to your Empire ADU - no problem. How we install solar will look a little bit different whether or not your existing home currently has solar, but either way, we can arrange this for you. 

In most cases, we’ll “plug” your Empire ADU into the panel on your main home. We can run a dedicated electric service line to the unit, but frankly that’s a little bit more expensive. Also - depending on what type of panel you have, we might have to upgrade your panel before we do our install. We can help you manage that if you need, or you can do it on your own - just let us help you make sure you get the right size panel to fit your new Empire ADU. 

Generally, we’ll need to run the plumbing underground somewhere out into the front yard, and connect into a part of your yard that breaks off from the sewer main (that’s called the sewer lateral). Sometimes we’ll connect into the cleanout. In some locations, we can tie in at the back of your home, but not in all. There’s a few other things we need to take into account - how big the pipes are on your current system, how many bathrooms you have - but we’ll chat about that during a site visit. 

We typically don’t. Our units are all electric, because electric appliances are much more efficient and environmentally friendly. We use a top-of-the-line water heater, and our electric induction cook-tops have rave reviews. 

Bit of a loaded question… it depends. Zoning happens at a city-by-city level, and so we’ll have to know where you are. Since the state of California changed the laws around ADUs starting in 2017, ADU’s are now allowed in the backyards of all single family homes, with some restrictions in each local area (things like setbacks, size limits, etc.). If you're in one of our current service areas, we can help you understand and navigate this process. 

Depends on where you live. In some places, there are zero setbacks from the sides of your property. In others, there are setbacks of 10 feet or more. We can tell you pretty easily - just reach out to us. 

It depends. We’ll need to look at your title report, which we can help you pull if you don’t have one readily available. Some easements will still allow an ADU inside them, but will have restrictions such as height limits. Other easements don’t allow any structures inside them, so we’ll have to move your Empire ADU somewhere else on the property, if possible. 

No problem. If that’s what you want, we can help you furnish your Empire ADU with one of our pre-selected furniture packages. 

Your Empire ADU comes standard with heating. We want to ensure you don’t miss any of the comforts of home. If you desire air-conditioning, we can add it for you. See our Extras page under Services.