MNBE designs, permits, and builds ADUs, DADUs, and custom homes across Shoreline, one licensed team from first site visit to final inspection.
One licensed, bonded team for the whole job, from design and Shoreline Planning & Community Development permitting to fixed price construction.
Where a Richmond Beach or Innis Arden lot's land value justifies it, we replace an aging rambler with a ground up custom home, with feasibility run honestly first.
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Detached, attached, and basement ADUs, up to two per lot and 1,200 sq ft each under Shoreline's middle housing code.
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Drawings built to clear Shoreline Planning & Community Development the first time, bluff view lots and critical areas included.
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We design ADU submittals to land clean at Shoreline's Planning and Community Development permit center, anticipating the corrections their reviewers send back before we file. Shoreline's smaller queue and direct staff access reward a clean first submittal. Every submittal and every response is handled by us, never a third party expediter.
Richmond Beach and Innis Arden drop on steep bluffs toward Puget Sound, and the lots with the best Olympic and water views are often the most regulated. We coordinate the geotechnical report early, design foundations and drainage to the slope, and run critical area review under Shoreline's Critical Areas Ordinance, plus any shoreline jurisdiction near Boeing Creek or Echo Lake, in parallel with the building permit instead of letting it stall the project.
Our detached ADU just south in Seattle's Magnolia, full framing, roofing, kitchen, siding, and HVAC, finished and passed inspection. We build the same way across Shoreline. See the full project, and the homeowner's verified five star review, on the project page.
What We Build in Shoreline
A freestanding backyard cottage with its own entrance and address, the strongest rental performer. Shoreline allows detached ADUs up to 1,200 square feet, and the flat, generous plateau lots around Ridgecrest, North City, and Briarcrest near the two new light rail stations take one comfortably. Confirm fire sprinkler requirements per build, since DADUs here commonly trigger them.
Connected to the main house by a shared wall or addition. Shoreline allows up to two ADUs per lot with no owner occupancy requirement, so both units can be rented, and HB 1337 generally removes added parking demands. Often the faster permit on a flatter plateau lot near transit.
The mid-century ramblers and split levels of Richmond Beach, Innis Arden, and Highland Terrace, many with daylight or walkout basements on the sloped western neighborhoods, convert beautifully into legal dwellings with a separate entrance, full kitchen, and code compliant egress. An interior ADU sharing the primary roof can even exceed the standard size cap.
On many Shoreline lots, especially the bluff view streets of Richmond Beach and Innis Arden and the upzoned blocks near the Shoreline South and Shoreline North stations, land value justifies replacing an aging home outright. We run that feasibility honestly, sometimes the right answer is a ground up custom home, not a remodel, and build it under the same license and fixed price contract.
FAQ
Answering the questions Shoreline homeowners ask us most about building an ADU.
Yes. Under Shoreline's updated zoning code and Washington's HB 1337, most single family lots allow up to two ADUs, typically one attached and one detached or two detached, with no owner occupancy requirement, subject to the city's maximum density calculations. A detached ADU can reach 1,200 square feet. A Junior ADU can still carry an owner occupancy condition, so confirm your configuration with PCD.
Generally faster than Seattle SDCI: Shoreline's Planning and Community Development Department has a smaller permit queue, a single consolidated permit center, and more direct access to named staff. There's no guaranteed turnaround, timelines move with the city's workload, and projects touching critical areas or shoreline jurisdiction add environmental review. A clean first submittal designed to their comments keeps it short.
Cost is site specific in Shoreline, so we don't quote a generic per square foot number. A flat plateau lot near Ridgecrest is the cleanest, fastest path, while a steep bluff in Richmond Beach needs geotech, special foundations, and longer review, and ravine lots near Boeing Creek carry more engineering. After a free site visit you get one fixed price.
Thank you for considering MNBE for your Shoreline ADU or custom home. We respond within one business day, Monday through Saturday.
We design and build across Shoreline, from the flat, gently rolling plateau lots of Ridgecrest, North City, Briarcrest, and Ballinger near the new light rail stations to the steep bluff and view streets of Richmond Beach and Innis Arden above Puget Sound. We work the Echo Lake waterfront, the older housing stock around Highland Terrace, and the upzoned blocks rising near the Shoreline South and Shoreline North stations.