Career

Since 2003, RJ Hernandez has established himself as a leader in the real estate development and construction industry. RJ is an award winning real estate development project manager with 20+ years experience in delivering thousands of single-family and multifamily sites and buildings - acquisitions/due diligence through entitlements, agency approvals, civil/land development, and vertical delivery coordination. Residential portfolio with transferable delivery systems applicable to commercial, industrial, and retail: permitting/plan-check execution, utility/off-site coordination, project controls, and stakeholder management. A proven closer, support comes from the repeatable systems that I built that consistently secured approvals within 2-3 review cycles, managed $4M-$20M budgets, and tracked complex schedules, at a granular level, to stay ahead of the curve and protect delivery targets. Known for establishing agency trust, surfacing and mitigating risk early, and implementing standards and project controls that improve cadence, communication, certainty, and performance toward business-plan metrics.

$1.1B+ in real estate assets managed, advised, developed.
20+ years focused on land, entitlements, and ground‑up development.
Entitlement timelines averaging ~38.7% faster than local jurisdictional baselines.
Most projects approved within 2–3 plan‑check cycles, through methodical quality control.
Scale from 8-922 lots / 3-30 acres per site, across suburban, infill, and master‑planned sites.

RJ is a relentless executor who facilitates advantages and finishes what others can’t. RJ helps partners achieve, by combining relentless execution, strategic navigation, and engaging communication, so desired outcomes happen faster with fewer surprises. Put RJ on the hard stuff -- He outworks, outthinks, and out-influences the chaos, so the outcome gets delivered when others stall.

RJ is a Southern California native, and has lived and worked throughout Southern California. Today, when not negotiating deals or designing homes, he dedicates time to mentoring youth and advocating for education reform. His vision is a better world for everyone, made up of self-empowerment, kindness and respect. He enjoys mentorship, salsa dancing, travel, reading non-fiction, writing, and spending quality time with his two daughters.

He lives in Newport Beach, CA.

WHAT I'VE DONE, WHAT I DO

HAVE BUILT RELATIONSHIPS WITH...

Over years of working together with key contacts and municipality processes, and I continue to nurture these relationships.

SOME VICTORIES

Sagecrest (Riverside): Obtained building plan approval within two plan-check cycles. Led full A/E (architect/structural) coordination to reconcile cross-discipline inconsistencies surfaced during resubmittal— including instances where corrective scope was implicitly shifted between disciplines without notification. Performed comment-by-comment adjudication, assigned accountable parties, verified resolution closure across all affected sheets/calculations, and managed disciplined deliverable control through approval.

Harveston (Vista): Unblocked electric and gas utility meter installations to support year-end closings when prior efforts stalled. Leveraged SDG&E relationships to identify the root cause (an obsolete addressing exhibit submitted at project start), then produced and delivered a corrected addressing exhibit accepted by SDG&E. Established and drove the execution plan for meter installations, maintained on-site oversight to ensure continuous progress, and personally walked inspections with the inspector and superintendent. Homes closed on schedule.

Harveston (Vista): Secured an off-site sewer easement required for the final home closing after the City withheld release pending easement establishment. After consultant efforts failed, directly engaged the owner and negotiated compensation from $250,000 to $30,000, then personally drove signature execution and City approval to completion. Home closed on schedule.

Mountain Bridge North & South (San Jacinto): Corrected a critical compliance gap, that I inherited, where Improvement Bonds had not been submitted to the City despite the project being ~50% constructed when identified. Mitigated immediate City action to suspend permits and closings (amid a strained City–builder relationship) by directly engaging City staff, leveraging established rapport, and securing interim operational continuity while bond documentation was finalized. Coordinated bond issuance and submittal; no permits or closings were delayed.

Emerald Ridge (Jurupa Valley): Led entitlement and plan-approval execution for a 185-unit mixed SFR/MFR community under unfavorable Conditions of Approval. Negotiated an extension to the required completion milestone for the major park site. During Planning Commission, addressed resident testimony regarding site disorder caused by illegal dumping by establishing a reasonable, time-bound cleanup commitment and personally committing to host monthly resident town halls to provide status and accountability. Concurrently obtained Planning Department approval of redesigned landscape plans based on a defensible technical redesign narrative, generating approximately $1,000,000 in material savings from boulder scope reduction alone.

Desert Willow Village: Inherited budget was significantly short, in response value engineered several plans to realize a cost savings to offset the shortfall.

Desert Willow Village II: On a hunch, engaged 3rd party to re-review the dry utility points of connection to discover no POC’s exist to the tract. Fortunately, resolved issue in time.

Harvest Grove: Inherited schedule impacted by Seller’s failure to perform on time, in response re-sequenced the land development plan in order to make up for 80% of the lost time.

Entitlements & Land Planning

Designs entitlement strategies that align land plans, political realities, and capital constraints.
Leads pre‑application, staff, and public hearing processes with cities, agencies, & communities.
Coordinates full consultant teams to keep submittals clean and defensible.
Navigates zoning changes, plan amendments, and overlays to unlock highest and best use.
Negotiates conditions of approval to protect the project.

Development & Construction

Entitlements & Land Planning

Translates entitlement packages into horizontal and vertical development plans.
Builds realistic pre‑con budgets and schedules tied to absorption, capital requirements.
Runs GC/CM selection, bid processes, and contract negotiations with clear scopes.
Drives value engineering without compromising core positioning.
Manages RFIs & submittals to hold schedule and budget.

Acquisitions & Due Diligence

Entitlements & Land Planning

Acquisitions & Due Diligence

Sources and screens land opportunities through brokers, principals, and off‑market relationships.
Underwrites deals with a strict entitlement, construction, and capital formation lens.
Leads due diligence across title, environmental, soils, utilities, traffic, and political risk.
Structures JV, debt, and preferred equity to align land risk with capital expectations.

CURRICULUM VITAE - SUMMARY

Award-winning, results-driven expert, with 20+ years in experience & technical knowledge, in residential real estate developments.

- 20+ years in residential land planning, entitlements, and delivery (SoCal)

- Full-cycle experience: Due Diligence/Land Acquisition → entitlement → horizontal/vertical execution → sellable close-out

- Known for getting approvals in 2–3 review cycles through disciplined QC and resubmittal packaging

- Budgets managed: $4MM–$20MM

- Portfolio management: 15+ concurrent active sites

- Strength: turning complex, political processes into clear actions, owners, and dates

- Author: Land Planner’s & Developer’s Guidebook

Career built on intentional cross training, seeking mentors, & developing a greater understanding of the perspectives of co-stakeholders. This has been key toward broadening capability and value creation. Enjoyment of solving entitlement puzzles, standardizing product, & aligning stakeholders to move deals and projects forward. Operating philosophy: adopt best practices, solidify & outwork expectations, and build positive working relationships. Learned directly from leaders at Centex, K. Hov, KB, Richmond American, LGI, Century, from some of the industry's best operators.

CORE COMPETENCIES

Project Operations: Multi‑site portfolio management of 15+ at a time; tract/site sizes have ranged from 55-1045 lots (avg. 250 lots); Established & enforced Standard Operating Procedures, including architectural, landscape & improvement plan standards, to improve consistency & cycle time.

Project Controls: Built project/priority tracking systems managing toward business plan metrics & real-time communicative reporting; Managed regular Division staff meetings; Leveraged MS Project, MS Excel & Outlook workflows (email/calendar/notes, categories/flags)

Forward Planning & Entitlements: CEQA compliance; tentative map submittals/approvals; worked within specific plans; drove conditions of approval from concept to final; plan check coordination (including quality control); final map approvals; handled plotting/phasing; presented at public hearing presentations

Land Development & Construction: Secured final engineering plan approvals, technical oversight of horizontal improvements for conformance to approved plans; managed dry utility consultant; points of connection verification; bond management & exoneration

Acquisitions & Due Diligence: Engaged feasibility consultants toward identifying risks and property characteristics. If project viable, then drafted of corporate investment presentations. Concurrently, controlled schedule & budget creation while remaining engaged with the municipality & seller.

Infill & New Development: Demo, environmental remediation, work through legacy utilities, neighbor outreach, shared PL conflicts, well abandonments

Cross‑Sector Delivery Fundamentals:Familiar with commercial/industrial/retail delivery drivers and terminology (e.g., core & shell vs. interior build‑out, permit/plan-check cycles, closeout/turnover), and experienced executing the underlying controls that govern outcomes across asset types.

Product & Site Design Leadership: Site planning, comprehensively reviewed architectural designs, civil engineering improvement plans & landscape architecture to value engineer, constructability review, conflict avoidance, & align elements between the market & the City

Special Districts & Financing: Supported CFD formations/annexations & SCIP coordination

Procurement & Vendor Management: Developed scopes of work & RFPs/solicitation; ran bid analysis then negotiated awards/contracts toward scheduling and managing consultants (engineers, architects, etc) and when necessary, contractors/vendors.

Regulatory & Legal Documentation: Ran the DRE & FHA approval process as well as assembling Public Report & disclosure packages (CC&Rs, Special Disclosures)

Leadership: Leadership of 6 at a time; served as hiring manager; coached underperformers

Government, Stakeholder & Community Relations: Served as primary liaison to all local agencies and Homeowner’s Associations. Coordinated across City/County Planning, Building & Safety, Engineering/ Public Works,School Districts, and water/sewer/gas/electric utility agencies.

Relationships: Established positive relationships of trust, consistency, & integrity with governing agencies & municipalities, including: Cities of Menifee, Riverside, Wildomar, Jurupa Valley, San Jacinto and more.

EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE | 2003

BACHELORS OF ARTS, SOCIOLOGY

Commencement Speaker | Accepted to Honors Program

Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society | Golden Key International Honor Society

UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX, ENGLAND | 2001-2002

STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM | FOCUS ON BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

RJ

Experience

WHAT I'VE DONE, WHAT I DO

HAVE BUILT RELATIONSHIPS WITH...

SOME VICTORIES

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Entitlements & Land Planning

Entitlements & Land Planning

Entitlements & Land Planning

Development & Construction

Entitlements & Land Planning

Entitlements & Land Planning

Acquisitions & Due Diligence

Entitlements & Land Planning

Acquisitions & Due Diligence

Resume

CURRICULUM VITAE - SUMMARY

CORE COMPETENCIES

EDUCATION

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