Coby Lefkowitz of Backyard | Nile Street in San Diego | Accessory Dwelling Units

American Building

Coby Lefkowitz, the co-founder of Backyard, a real estate development company focusing on infill development in Southern California, joins us to discuss the topic of Accessory Dwelling Units — also known as ADUs. These relatively inexpensive homes can be used to help ease the burden of the current housing market by providing more affordable options. Coby shares with us some of his thoughts on underlying ADU legislation and smaller infill development projects.

In today’s episode, we also discuss Coby’s 3322 Nile Street project in San Diego. Located in the heart of Altadena, the neighborhood features mostly cozy homes with Spanish influence. It is a four-unit property with a contemporary design. We also discuss how projects similar to this one can be an answer to our country's challenge of producing housing that all Americans can afford.

Join us on this week’s episode of American Building as we discuss the importance of ADUs in addressing the current housing crisis, including some of the challenges and benefits of building smaller detached housing units.

About the Guest:

Coby Lefkowitz is the co-founder of Backyard, a real estate development company focusing on infill development in Southern California. Previously, he worked with ASH NYC, Washington REIT, and the Runyon Group. Coby was raised in Westchester County, New York, and graduated from the University of Virginia Architecture School with a Bachelor of Urban and Environmental Planning.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Topics Covered:

• Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) as a way of addressing the current housing crisis
• ADU legislations and challenges that arise with building smaller housing units
• Design process of 3322 Nile Street project in San Diego
• Infill development in Southern California
• The impact of unaffordability on designing more resilient housing projects

About Your Host

Atif Qadir is the Founder & CEO of REDIST, a technology company making it easy for commercial real estate professionals to find and use the $100B of real estate incentives given out every year in the US.

Resources and Links

• Coby’s Medium
• Coby’s Twitter
• Grab our exclusive guide Seven Tips on How to Stand Out in Your Field
• Learn more on the American Building website
• Follow us on Instagram
• Connect with Atif Qadir on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Michael Graves
• Learn more about REDIST