Accessory Dwelling Units surged in popularity during the pandemic as people sought space for home offices, home gyms, homeschooling, in-laws and more. Rejuve co-founder and co-owner Phil ‘Nic’ Nicolosi says that while people have returned to life outside of their homes, the demand for ADUs hasn’t tapered and new local laws in the works that will allow homeowners to have more dwellings on their property promise to increase their popularity.
Rejuve is an Austin-based full-service general contracting company that was founded in 2012 focused on remodels and new constructions. Today, Phil says half of their new construction projects are ADUs, about 15 percent of their business. And, since they’re custom builders, they design around a customer’s needs. He says, “Home offices are probably the most common, but we’re usually adding another function like a workshop, guest room or pool house.” The city of Austin currently restricts ADUs to no more than 1,100 sqft and they can be as simple as 250 sqft. Phil says their average request is for around 750 sqft. As far as pricing, since all of their builds are custom, the prices varies widely. “We’ve built 300 sqft ones that are $1,000/sqft and 1,100 sqft ones that are $350/sqft. It really depends on the property, the use of the ADU, and the client’s budget and design,” he explains, adding, “People do not have an endless budget, nor should they, which is why I take a value approach to every project. Whether the client wants it or not, I include a comparative market analysis of their home to show the client a rough approximation of what their home could be worth after their project.” Learn more about the Rejuve team and their services at https://www.rejuvegroup.com/.
