About HORIZON
Every day your project sits in plan check is capital wasted. Between changing zoning codes, endless correction sheets, and bureaucratic red tape, navigating LA City Hall all alone is a massive liability—which is why HORIZON opens direct pathways through financing and permitting barriers, enabling community-aligned development projects that create local jobs, enhance neighborhoods, and unlock value throughout Los Angeles.
Expert Consultants
HORIZON is in constant engagement with the City, a must for a successful land use and building permit expediter. Land use planning regulations (known as entitlements) are constantly evolving. From zoning code updates to changes in the interpretation of building requirements, HORIZON is engaged in a continuous dialogue with City personnel to stay abreast of current and pending policy. With several projects in the pipeline at any given time, spanning the range of entitlement types, our conversations with the Planning and Building Departments occur weekly. With over 15 years of entitlement expertise and 20 years of real estate development experience, we have successfully navigated challenges which would surprise others. HORIZON works with community groups and local government to build consensus for public hearings and get projects approved. Let’s start a conversation, call 323-528-7674.
Finished projects
Community Meetings
Happy clients
% of Cases Approved
Services
Our services expedite development
Community + Political Advocacy
Planning + Zoning Entitlements
Building Permit Expediting
Investors
- 🏛️ Advocacy with City Council & Local Officials
- 📈 Alignment with Evolving Zoning & Planning Policies
- 🤝 Representation at Public Hearings & Community Meetings
Community + Political Advocacy
Guided by a unique legacy, HORIZON’s founder grew up navigating complex zoning dynamics, municipal policy, and land use. Our founder was raised by a Los Angeles City Planner and an Assistant Deputy Mayor. Today, our firm backs your project with 20+ years of professional expertise and deep, cultivated relationships.
We leverage these trusted relationships to understand the evolution of local zoning and community advocacy policies. Acting as your front-line defense, HORIZON fields community inquiries and manages complex neighborhood dynamics. We provide expert guidance on how your project fits into the community context. As your trusted zoning and community advocacy insider, we strategically align your development goals with City and community objectives. We utilize a lifetime of inside insight to clear friction and build consensus. We leverage cultivated relationships to move your project forward and protect your project timeline from day one.
- 📈 Maximize Value with Density Bonus/ Transit Oriented Communities (TOC & TOD)/ Subdivisions
- 📐 Navigate zoning to secure Conditional Use Permits / Zone Variances / Zone Changes
- 🏛️ Modernization of Municipal General Plans, Community Plans, & Zoning Codes
Planning + Zoning Entitlements
Navigating complex, layered entitlements without an expert partner is a recipe for costly project stalls and missed site potential. HORIZON eliminates this friction by speaking the technical language of municipal codes, working to align every project with the goals, objectives, and policies of local zoning ordinances. Our diverse practice spans the full spectrum of development—guiding multi-family housing, charter schools, restaurants, and grocery stores through municipal hurdles to cut red tape and secure critical approvals. Because we understand exactly how Los Angeles zoning entitlements unlock millions of dollars in value, we help private clients uncover hidden zoning opportunities.
HORIZON understand exactly how Los Angeles zoning entitlements unlock development potential; we help private clients uncover hidden zoning opportunities. Concurrently, HORIZON serves as a trusted municipal partner, leveraging our cross-jurisdictional insight to help cities modernize their General Plans, Community Plans, specific plan overlays, and local zoning codes to foster smart, efficient growth.
We review every site through a dual lens—ensuring private developers achieve maximum density while helping municipal agencies construct clear, enforceable zoning frameworks. Check our Capabilities Statement to see how we streamline approvals or look at our Permit Expediting Services to prepare for your next phase.
- Department of Building and Safety
- Bureau of Engineering
- Planning Department
- Disabled Access
- Fire Department
Building Permit Expediting
Staring at a "Pending Review" status bar on a municipal website portal shouldn't stop building permit expediting for your project. Post-pandemic shifts permanently forced city agencies onto online application processing. As a result, the entire entitlement and building permit process became completely faceless.
Developers now upload massive digital plan sets into automated systems with no way to speak to a human face-to-face. Getting a simple clarification meeting can take months. Meanwhile, your holding costs pile up during unexplained plan-check delays.
HORIZON brings the human element back to the process. We maintain long-term relationships with local agency staff. We know the exact faces behind those digital portals. Collaborating with your architects and engineers, we serve as your single point of contact for all regulatory agencies. We secure the meetings you need, bypass the digital bottlenecks, and fast-track your building permit expediting timeline.
- Place capital for waterfall opportunities
- Equity participation for services
- We can invest in your next project
Investors
HORIZON Development + Entitlement looks at multiple types of investing and investors. Contact us to place equity for new developments or other value add opportunities. We will consider providing our services for an equity position in your next development. For short term projects or smaller projects raising mezzanine finance, we may be interested in providing funds. Contact us to start a conversation.
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History
Established in 2014
Our Story
2014-PresentMBE/SBE/WBE
HORIZON Development + Entitlement, LLC, a MBE/SBE/WBE, was established in 2014 by Nichole Smith, a second generation land use entitlement consultant committed to building generational wealth. HORIZON brings real estate development expertise with an emphasis on affordable housing, schools, and large commercial properties. We work thoughtfully with community groups and local governments to build consensus and get projects approved.Crenshaw Corridor DRB
2018-PresentDevelopment Enhances Communities
HORIZON believes that development can reflect and enhance communities. As Chair of the Crenshaw Corridor Design Review Board, HORIZON's Principal Nichole Smith seeks to help developers via recommendations to provide quality design, landscaped open space that beautifies the community, and commercial components that provide local jobs and enhance the community character. It is the an honor to serve the community where Nichole grew up and continues to be a stakeholder.Small Lot Subdivision
2017Inglewood's First Small Lot Subdivision
While Small Lot Subdivisions were fueling development and expanding homeownership in Los Angeles, the neighboring City of Inglewood started working with HORIZON on the City's first Small Lot Subdivision project. HORIZON delivered the first of this type of development. We are excited by complex ground breaking entitlements that provide a pathway for phenomenal projects that provide quality housing for deserving families.Testimonials
Success is built from the ground up. Our success has been built through the referrals of our amazing clients, colleagues, and friends.
