CULVER CITY CUSTOM HOME BUILDER & GENERAL CONTRACTOR
Built With Intention. Flats Below, Hills Above.
CULVER CITY HOMES ARE BUILT DIFFERENTLY
Heart Construction is a general contractor serving Culver City, specializing in custom homes, full renovations, and additions for flat tract lots and Baldwin Hills hillside properties. We work alongside homeowners, architects, engineers and designers through organized pre-construction, transparent budgeting and steady execution across every phase of the project.
Culver City has its own rulebook.
The City of Culver City Building Safety Division, not LADBS, reviews your plans. In R1 neighborhoods, a floor area cap and a daylight plane setback shape every addition and second story. Good planning fits a family home inside them while respecting your neighbors' privacy.
Mailed neighbor notice applies to larger additions, the Culver Crest hillside overlay adds grading and drainage requirements, and plan check moves through Planning and Fire in multiple rounds. Sequencing the submittals matters.
We guide the process so decisions feel informed, not reactive, and nothing is drawn to the wrong city's rules.
Primary-suite and second-story additions, detached and garage-conversion ADUs, and hillside rebuilds above Blanco Park are common here. We bring the same structure and discipline we apply across the Westside and every project in Los Angeles.
RECENT PROJECTS
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![Malibu Pier home interior featuring a warm modern living space with built-in seating, layered textures, custom wood furniture, and an open layout flowing into a minimalist kitchen, showcasing Heart Construction’s intentional coastal design.]()
MALIBU PIER
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![Pacific Palisades ocean-view backyard with custom pool, palm trees, lounge seating, and manicured lawn overlooking the Pacific coastline.]()
MALIBU
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![Marina del Rey home interior with warm modern design featuring a natural wood dining table, sculptural pendant lighting, plaster walls, and an open kitchen with custom cabinetry, showcasing Heart Construction’s intentional coastal craftsmanship.]()
MARINA DEL REY
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![Open-concept living room in a Hollywood Hills home remodel with folding glass walls, custom built-ins, soft neutral furnishings, and seamless indoor-outdoor flow overlooking canyon views, showcasing Heart Construction’s warm modern design.]()
HOLLYWOOD HILLS
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![Pacific Palisades luxury bathroom with freestanding soaking tub, marble walk-in shower, herringbone tile walls, and sculptural glass chandelier framed by natural light and greenery views.]()
BRENTWOOD
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![Pacific Palisades modern custom home with smooth stucco façade, black-framed windows, vertical wood garage door, and drought-tolerant landscaping.]()
MAR VISTA
OUR REMODELING SERVICES
At Heart Construction, we specialize in creating thoughtfully designed homes that reflect the way you live. From custom ground-up builds to full-scale renovations and refined living spaces, we guide every project with craftsmanship, clarity and care for homeowners in Del Rey, Cheviot Hills, Ladera Heights and beyond.
OUR CONSTRUCTION COMPANY CULVER CITY PROCESS
PLAN
First a Strategic Visioning Session: A conversation about your goals, budget and timeline, and a frank read on what your site will allow. Complimentary.
TEAM
Second we assemble the architect, structural and geotechnical engineers, civil engineer, biologist and designers your project needs — matched to your style and site's constraints.
CALL
Third a Professional Services Agreement and a small retainer begin feasibility, permitting strategy, design coordination and line-by-line budgeting.
PERMITS
We assemble and file the complete CDP and building-permit package, coordinate Fire and Environmental Health reviews, and lock scope, finishes and schedule before groundbreaking.
CONSTRUCTION
Milestone-based build. Change orders are priced and approved in writing before work begins. You get a weekly update every week — progress, decisions needed, what's next.
CLOSEOUT
Finally Walkthrough with Final inspections, punch list, documentation and warranty handover. Payments are tied to completed milestones, never arbitrary percentages.
After you contact us, Within one business day, Asaf will call to understand your property and goals. If it's a fit, we schedule a site visit. There's no obligation and no pressure — just a clear picture of what's possible.
What to Know Before
You Build in Culver City
Pace in Culver City is set by plan check at the City of Culver City Building Safety Division, where each review round runs about 20 business days and more than one round is typical. Routine permits take 3–6 months; projects that need design review or hillside engineering run 6–12 months. Construction of a custom home takes 10–16 months. The lever that protects your schedule is a complete, zoning-verified first submittal, with the geotechnical report already in hand on hillside lots.
What It Costs
Costs here sit where they do because small lots force efficient two-story or rear-yard solutions, hillside lots add soils and drainage engineering, and fire-zone lots add ember-resistant materials. Custom homes typically run $500–$900+ per sq ft; whole-home renovations $375–$625+ per sq ft; detached ADUs $275,000–$500,000+; pools $120,000–$340,000+. Soft costs — design, geotechnical and survey studies, permits — are additional. You receive a line-by-line budget before construction begins.
Permits, Rules & Fire Codes
The City of Culver City Building Safety Division issues your permit, with Planning and the Culver City Fire Department reviewing it. The rules that define most projects are the R1 floor area and daylight plane standards, the Culver Crest hillside overlay, the city's own ADU standards and mailed neighbor notice on larger additions. These are objective standards, so a compliant design is approvable without hearings. Fire-zone construction standards and residential sprinklers are our base specification, not upgrades. We sequence these from feasibility.
Where We Build in Culver City
Fox Hills, Hayden Tract, Sunkist Park, Culver City Arts District, Culver City Terrace, Falcon Hill, Blanco-Culver Crest and Culver West, from flat tract streets to the Baldwin Hills slopes. Sunkist Park, near El Marino Park, has flat lots where floor area and privacy drive design, while Blanco-Culver Crest above Overland adds slope-based limits, grading and drainage, and geotechnical work before design. Not sure which rules apply to your parcel? A feasibility review answers that in two to four weeks.
Meet the Builders Behind Your Project
Asaf Bar-Hen — Co-Founder & Developer Asaf leads design and development from concept to completion. His background spans 15 years in hospitality design, seven years in renewable energy and energy-efficient building, and real-estate work across the U.S., Asia and Central America. He leads every first call and brings a sustainability lens to each project, from energy-efficient design to fire-resilient construction.
Jason Aizenberg — Co-Founder Jason runs the operational side of every project — permits, design meetings, scheduling, subcontractor coordination and site logistics. Clients describe him as the person who "managed everything so we could focus on our family.”
California Contractors State License Board #1146456 — Class B General Building Contractor. Verify on CSLB ↗
25+ years of combined experience across high-end residential construction in Los Angeles
Frequently Asked Questions
About Renovation in Culver City
Do I apply to LADBS or the city?
Neither is LADBS. Permits come from the City of Culver City Building Safety Division. Any new ground-up home, or an addition of 50% or more of existing floor area or value, requires mailed notice to every owner and occupant within 100 feet and Current Planning review before the permit issues. For a second story or addition, we prepare that notice package for you.
How many plan-check rounds?
Expect more than one. Each Building Safety round runs about 20 business days, and separate Planning, Fire and landscape reviews can add time. Delays usually come from incomplete sets or missing HOA letters. We submit pre-checked drawings, answer corrections within the week and report which round and division is holding in our weekly updates.
Cost to build in Culver City?
Custom homes typically run $500–$900+ per sq ft. Hillside geotechnical and drainage work, fire-zone materials and efficient small-lot two-story designs push toward the upper end. Soft costs — design, studies and permits — are additional. You receive a line-by-line budget before construction begins.
What do hillside lots require?
Culver Crest homes may sit in the hillside overlay, which sets slope-based floor area limits and grading and drainage requirements under CCMC 15.02.800. Blair Hills, Wrightcrest and Lower Culver Crest are also Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones, with 100-foot defensible space and a 5-foot ember-resistant zone. We commission geotechnical work before design.
Are you licensed and insured?
Yes. Heart Construction holds California Contractors State License Board license #1146456 and is bonded and insured for large-scale residential construction, major remodels and structural work. You can verify the license on the CSLB website.
Guides for Culver City homeowners:
- Cost to Build a Custom Home in Los Angeles (2026)
- ADU Los Angeles: Is It Right for Your Property?
- Custom Home vs Remodel vs Rebuild in Los Angeles
Nearby areas we serve: Del Rey · Cheviot Hills · Ladera Heights · Century City · Mar Vista · Brentwood
Region: All Westside communities we serve · Everywhere we build