Los Angeles Construction at the Top End: 39 Permits Over $25 Million, and the Long Tail Below
265 permits hold half of all declared construction value in Los Angeles. 89,214 permits are under $50,000. The two ends buy in completely different ways.
The City of Los Angeles issued 112,775 building permits from January 2025 to early October 2026, declaring $13.42 billion of work. That value is spread very unevenly, and the split decides how a trade contractor should sell.
The value bands
| Declared value | Permits | Declared value | Share of value |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25M and over | 39 | $4.61B | 34% |
| $5M–$25M | 226 | $2.17B | 16% |
| $1M–$5M | 934 | $1.79B | 13% |
| $250K–$1M | 4,959 | $2.30B | 17% |
| $50K–$250K | 17,395 | $1.77B | 13% |
| Under $50K | 89,214 | $791M | 6% |
The 265 permits at $5M and over, about one in every 425, carry $6.78B: half of everything declared. At the other end, 79 percent of permits are under $50,000, and the median permit is $8,400.
What is in the top 39
| Use | Permits | Declared value |
|---|---|---|
| Airport buildings | 4 | $2.19B |
| Apartment buildings | 20 | $949M |
| Foundation-only permits | 4 | $543M |
| Government community center | 1 | $375M |
| Sound stage | 1 | $139M |
| Joint living and working quarters | 3 | $134M |
| Office | 1 | $120M |
| Other (sewage treatment, hotel, storage, miscellaneous structures) | 5 | $164M |
The airport area alone accounts for $2.52B on five of these permits, including the single largest, a $1.97B airport building issued in August 2026; it is most of the $2.81B declared that month. Strip out the airport and the top end is mostly apartments.
By area, the $25M-plus permits cluster in Wilshire (6, $311M), Central City (5, $644M), the airport (5), Canoga Park–West Hills–Winnetka–Woodland Hills (5, $220M) and Westchester–Playa del Rey (4, $244M).
The next band down, $5M to $25M, is an even split: 112 apartment permits ($1.08B) and 109 commercial permits ($1.04B), with only five houses.
A foundation-only permit is worth noting on its own: it usually means the building's main permit is still to come, so the trade packages above the foundation are further out.
Who builds them
The top end is a general contractor's market. Of the 38 permits over $25M whose LADBS page Builtie has read, 37 name a contractor and 36 name an architect or engineer. Those 37 are spread across 26 companies. At $5M and over, 214 of 245 pages read name a contractor, across 130 companies.
Owner-builder, which covers four in ten of all the Los Angeles permit pages read, is rare up here. The buyer is a commercial or multifamily general contractor with an estimating department, a prequalification process and a bid calendar.
Two ways to sell
| Measure | Top end ($5M and over) | Long tail (under $250K) |
|---|---|---|
| Permits | 265 | 106,609 |
| Buyer | Commercial and multifamily general contractors | Homeowners, owner-builders, small residential builders |
| Who to reach | Estimator, project manager, purchasing | The builder, or the designer and engineer on an owner-builder job |
| Cycle | Months; prequalification before invitation to bid | Days to weeks |
| What wins | Capacity, bonding, references, safety record | Speed, availability, a clear price |
| Timing signal | Foundation permit, then the main permit; packages bid in sequence | Permit issue date |
Commercial and multifamily trades should treat the roughly 130 general contractors on $5M-plus permits as an account list: get prequalified, learn each one's estimating calendar, and follow their next permit rather than this one. The commercial and multifamily reports track the work: 9,151 commercial permits ($5.59B, 4,552 active) and 535 multifamily permits ($2.35B, 484 active).
Residential trades live in the long tail: tens of thousands of small jobs, many with no contractor named. The work there is volume and speed, reached through repeat residential builders and the architects and engineers on owner-builder permits.
How Builtie fits
Builtie tracks every City of Los Angeles building permit from small repairs to $25M-plus apartment buildings, names the contractor, architect and engineer from the LADBS permit page, finds the estimators and project managers at those firms, and runs LinkedIn and email outreach from your own accounts. Los Angeles coverage is the City of Los Angeles only; Builtie covers North America, with the Greater Toronto Area as its founding and deepest market. Starter is $79 per seat per month for up to 20 projects with a 7-day free trial; Growth is $99 for 50 projects and includes LinkedIn and email outreach.
Know the projects. Reach the decision makers. See the largest Los Angeles projects at builtie.com.
Frequently asked questions
How many large construction projects are permitted in Los Angeles?
Since January 2025 the City of Los Angeles has issued 39 building permits declared at $25M or more ($4.61B, 34% of all declared value), 226 at $5M to $25M ($2.17B) and 934 at $1M to $5M ($1.79B).
What is the typical Los Angeles building permit worth?
The median declared value is $8,400. 89,214 of the 112,775 permits issued since January 2025, 79%, are declared under $50,000.
Who builds the largest Los Angeles projects?
Licensed general contractors, almost always. A contractor is named on 37 of the 38 permits over $25M whose LADBS page Builtie has read, and those 37 are spread over 26 companies.
Builtie Team
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