Build the Stack Before the Permits

The thought crosses my mind more often than I care to admit. It’s one of the most frustrating realities in development… the clock starts ticking long before the money starts flowing. By the time I’ve got stamped entitlements in hand, half the heavy lifting has already been done. Time, effort, capital – all spent well in advance. And yet, most traditional lenders won’t even look at the deal until that point. Too much perceived risk, too many boxes they need checked.

But development doesn’t wait for checklists. It’s a living process. Messy, unpredictable, but also full of potential. Some of the most lucrative opportunities I’ve ever had were the ones that looked the riskiest on paper. Tight timelines. A patchwork of approvals. Maybe a zoning nuance that needs finesse. Those early stages, when I’m working with the city, smoothing out environmental reviews, aligning utilities, that’s when the deal needs capital. Not two quarters later, when everything’s tied up with a bow.

It’s why specialty lenders and having optional funding sources like Evoque Lending, aren’t just useful – they’re essential. They understand this stage of the game. They know that early money isn’t just about funding – it’s about momentum. The ability to move when an opportunity opens up, not three steps after it’s already passed.

When I’m navigating the entitlement phase, I’m balancing a dozen competing priorities. Public meetings, engineering consultants, environmental impact studies, community engagement, all moving in real time. Every delay adds cost. Every uncertainty complicates the exit. So if the bank is telling me to come back when I’ve got my ducks in a row, and I’ve still got six ducks waddling around the street – I can’t afford to wait.

Specialty lenders who have a suite of options available? They’re looking at the land. The team. The plan. They’re looking at me. They want to know if I’ve done this before. What my track record looks like. And that makes sense. Because this kind of capital isn’t cookie-cutter. It’s relationship-based. It’s built on trust, performance, and a deep understanding of the project lifecycle.

The reality is, pre-entitlement capital plays a very different role than construction or takeout financing. It’s surgical. It fills the gaps that traditional lenders can’t or won’t. It buys time, removes friction, and positions the project for scale. I don’t need ten-year money at that point. I need 6 to 12 months of strategic runway to execute on key milestones – site planning, traffic studies, CEQA mitigation, water board signoff. That’s where value gets unlocked.

And that’s also where many developers stall out. I’ve seen it too often. They burn through personal capital in the entitlement process, then scramble to fill the funding gap, or worse – they put the whole thing on pause. Not because the deal isn’t viable. But because the capital structure didn’t match the stage.

It’s a lesson I learned the hard way. You have to align capital with the lifecycle of the project. Pre-entitlement money needs to be nimble, fast, and customized. It has to come from someone who knows the game – who sees that the early lift is where real equity is created.

According to CBRE, entitlement timelines in California average between 18 and 30 months depending on location, size, and zoning. That’s a long time to carry a site without meaningful income – especially if land costs are high and public hearings drag out. And if you’re in a major metro area? You can count on even more delays due to staffing shortages and environmental oversight.

So I don’t wait around anymore. I build my capital stack with intent. Traditional money will always have a place – long-term rates are attractive, and when you hit stabilization, those loans make sense. But early capital? That’s a different animal. That’s where I bring in flexible funding partners who can move in weeks, not months. Ones who don’t need perfect comparables or textbook appraisals.

Truth is, entitlement-stage funding is one of the least understood – and most critical – phases of the development cycle. If more developers planned for it the way they plan for construction draws or lease-up reserves, fewer deals would die in the pre-development phase.

So yes, most traditional lenders won’t fund before entitlements. That’s not news. What is news – and what more developers need to hear – is that you don’t have to wait. There are smarter, faster ways to fund that critical stage. And when you do it right, the payoff isn’t just getting to the next milestone. It’s setting the entire project up for success from day one.

Because in this business, timing is everything. And those who move early – with the right partners – don’t just survive. They build.