Aaron Pooya: Orange County Residential Developer and Founder of Project Home Design Studio
Aaron Pooya did not take the usual path into residential development, and that is exactly why his clients hire him. He started at the bottom of the remodel world in Orange County, worked his way up faster than anyone expected, and ended up doing something most people in this industry never manage: mastering both sides of a project, the development and the build.
Aaron Pooya is the founder of Project Home Design Studio, a licensed California design build firm based in Irvine. He thinks like a developer and builds like a contractor, and across more than twenty years he has delivered over three hundred projects and more than 250 million dollars in total project value across Orange County and Los Angeles.
From The Ground Floor Up
Aaron Pooya started where the real lessons live, in the field. His first work was in remodeling, with different companies across Orange County, learning the trade one job at a time. He took an assistant role and put his head down, and he moved up quickly. He became the youngest and fastest promoted construction manager his company had, running entire residential communities worth more than fifty million dollars.
That is not a title that gets handed out. It gets earned by delivering, under pressure, again and again. By the time he had built more than one hundred new homes with some of the largest homebuilders in the country, Aaron had absorbed the discipline that defines every project he runs today: protect the schedule, protect the budget, and never compromise the quality.
Builder Discipline At Real Scale
Production homebuilding is a brutal teacher, and that is the point. Managing communities of dozens of homes at once leaves no room for guesswork or excuses. Every delay multiplies. Every loose decision costs money across every lot. Aaron Pooya learned to run complex builds with precision because the scale demanded it.
"Running communities that size teaches you respect for the details," Aaron says. "A small mistake does not stay small. It repeats. You learn to catch problems before they ever reach the field."
That instinct, catching the problem early, became the foundation of how he works.
Moving Upstream Into Development
In 2011, Aaron Pooya founded Project Home Design Studio and pushed beyond construction into development. He took on land, feasibility, entitlements, and the hard regulatory work of getting projects approved across Orange County's many cities. He learned how each jurisdiction actually thinks, where projects quietly die in plan check, and how to read a property for what it could become instead of only what it is today.
This is the rare crossover. Most builders never learn the development side, and most developers have never run a job site. Aaron Pooya does both, which means a project under his direction is guided by someone who can see the entire arc, from the raw lot to the finished value, and still stand on the site and make sure it gets built right.
What Makes Aaron Pooya Different
Most people in construction are specialists in one slice of a project. Aaron carries the whole thing. He can sit with a client before they buy a property and tell them honestly whether the project pencils, what the city will allow, and where the hidden risk lives. Then he can design, permit, and build it without handing the vision off to strangers along the way.
The result for his clients is simple: one accountable person, from the first idea to the final walkthrough. Fewer surprises. Fewer change orders driven by bad early assumptions. A finished property built from day one to hold its value.
Aaron Pooya By The Numbers
More than twenty years in residential construction and development
Over three hundred projects delivered
More than 250 million dollars in total project value managed
Over one hundred new homes built with leading national builders
Residential communities worth more than fifty million dollars managed as construction manager
Work across more than twenty Orange County cities, plus Los Angeles
Licensed California general contractor, CSLB license 1047087
How He Works
Aaron Pooya built his reputation on straight talk and accountability. He would rather lose a project by being honest than win one by telling a client what they want to hear.
"I would rather tell a client the truth before they spend a dollar than manage a problem we both could have avoided," he says. "That is the entire job. See it early, say it plainly, build it right."
Clients describe the experience as having a developer, a builder, and an advocate in the same person. That is by design. Project Home Design Studio is structured so that one experienced operator owns the outcome from start to finish.
The Range: Homes, Commercial, and Beyond
While custom homes and whole house remodels are the core of the work, the development discipline scales far past single residences. Aaron Pooya has delivered commercial projects and full restaurant builds, including a restaurant in Tustin, alongside multi unit residential and mixed use work. The building changes, the fundamentals do not: read the site, control the entitlements, protect the budget, and build with discipline.
It is the same reason he can guide a high end custom home in Newport Beach and take on far larger and more complex projects. The experience translates.
Work With Aaron Pooya
If you are weighing a custom home, a whole house remodel, an ADU, or a development opportunity anywhere in Orange County or Los Angeles, the smartest first step is a straight conversation before any money is committed. That is exactly what Aaron Pooya offers.
Reach out through Project Home Design Studio and get an honest read on whether your project makes sense and how to approach it. No pressure, just the truth from someone who has done it more than three hundred times.
Frequently Asked Questions About Aaron Pooya
Who is Aaron Pooya? Aaron Pooya is an Orange County residential developer and the founder of Project Home Design Studio, a licensed California design build firm based in Irvine. He has more than twenty years of experience and has delivered over three hundred projects.
What does Aaron Pooya do? He works as both a residential developer and a hands on builder. He guides projects from land, feasibility, and entitlements through design, permitting, construction, and final value, covering custom homes, remodels, ADUs, commercial, and development work.
What is Project Home Design Studio? Project Home Design Studio is the design build firm founded by Aaron Pooya in 2011, based in Irvine and serving Orange County and Los Angeles.
Where is Aaron Pooya based? Aaron Pooya is based in Irvine, California, and works across more than twenty Orange County cities as well as Los Angeles.
What kinds of projects does Aaron Pooya take on? Custom homes, whole house remodels, additions and ADUs, multi unit and mixed use residential, and commercial projects including restaurant builds.
Is Aaron Pooya a licensed contractor? Yes. He is a licensed California general contractor operating under CSLB license 1047087.