JLL Design Cuts Permitting Admin Time in Half Across Its National Portfolio

Managing retail projects across hundreds of jurisdictions meant juggling dozens of expediters, endless follow-ups, and unpredictable timelines. See how JLL Design brought everything together with Pulley, cutting permitting admin time in half while delivering faster approvals and more reliable answers for clients.

Impact at a Glance

• 50% less time spent on permitting-related administrative work
• 8-week average approval time compared to an estimated 16-week industry average
• Almost half of projects approved with no city comments When you're managing retail projects across hundreds of jurisdictions, keeping track of permits can start to feel like a full-time job. Just ask Amy Sjursen.

As Vice President at JLL Design, Amy leads the firm's East Architecture team and oversees retail and quick-service restaurant programs across the country. With more than 20 years of experience, she's designed thousands of spaces and navigated permitting in hundreds of jurisdictions.

But even with that experience, the process wasn't getting any easier.

There were still dozens of expediters, different requirements in every jurisdiction, files scattered across inboxes, and a constant stream of follow-ups just to understand where projects stood.

For Amy, the problem wasn't just the administrative burden. It was what that uncertainty meant for her clients.

"The most important thing to deliver to our clients is accurate due diligence and live updates on status. If you give a client bad information twice, they stop trusting you."

When clients are making leasing decisions and planning grand openings around permitting timelines, having the right information isn't optional. It's everything.

Making Sense of Permitting Across Hundreds of Jurisdictions

After years of managing fragmented permitting processes, Amy was drawn to Pulley's promise of greater visibility and a centralized platform.

Traditional expediting firms could provide reports and status updates, but getting a complete picture often meant chasing down information across different people and systems. Pulley offered something different: a single place to access project files, track submissions, and see exactly where permits stood.

"A lot of permit expediting firms will say things to you like, 'We track all your projects, we give you updates, we give you reports.' But having a platform where you can upload files and not email them, and I can see where any of my projects are at any point, and that made me think there's something here that I need to explore."

That visibility proved especially valuable when a team member was on vacation and the team needed to track down a specific drawing revision. Instead of digging through emails or waiting for someone to return, Amy opened Pulley, checked the version history, and found the right file.

"We were all scrambling. Being able to just jump in and see it immediately saved the day for us."

For a team juggling projects across the country, having a reliable record of every submission and revision means fewer opportunities for important details to fall through the cracks.

Cutting Permitting Admin Time in Half

With Pulley, Amy estimates she spends 50% less time on permitting-related tasks than she did before.

The portfolio dashboard gives her a view across accounts, while the Ball-in-Court and Tasks features help her team identify priorities and keep work moving each week. What once required manual checklists and constant coordination is now easier to manage from one place.

But the bigger payoff is what that time savings means for her clients.

"Our clients make leasing decisions based on permitting timelines. If we're wrong, it can impact merchandising schedules and grand openings. Having Pulley means I can give them information in real time and know it's right. That changes the conversation completely."

For Amy, spending less time managing the permitting process means more time providing the accurate guidance clients need to make critical decisions.

How Proactive Permitting Leads to Shorter Project Timelines

The benefits of Pulley's approach go beyond better organization. By combining technology with proactive permitting expertise, JLL Design has also seen meaningful improvements in project outcomes.

Two projects in particular show what that looks like in practice.

Fairfax, Virginia, is a notoriously challenging jurisdiction for many retailers. But on one JLL Design project, the team secured approval five weeks ahead of schedule, after just one round of city comments.

A key factor was the proactive work of Pulley project manager Katie Gray.

Before submission, Katie reviewed the drawings and shared a list of common comments she'd seen from the jurisdiction, giving Amy's team the opportunity to address potential issues before the city flagged them.

"Katie marked up our drawings ahead of time and also sent us a list of typical comments she'd been seeing from that jurisdiction. We were able to capture those comments as we completed our drawings. I think that's why it only took one review and why the approval came so fast."

Rather than waiting for the city to identify problems, the team could get ahead of them, reducing unnecessary review cycles and keeping the project on track.

On another project in Glendale, California, Pulley secured permits 11 days ahead of schedule.

But the most memorable part of the experience came after the permits were issued.

When the client's general contractor encountered confusion around linking trade permits to the general permit, Pulley’s Sabrina Hyman stepped in to coordinate directly with the city, even though Pulley's official scope of work had already ended.

"Pulley always goes above and beyond, even when their official scope is over."

For Amy, that willingness to step in and solve problems is what sets the partnership apart.

The Fairfax and Glendale projects demonstrate that faster approvals aren't simply about moving paperwork through the system. They're about understanding jurisdiction-specific requirements, anticipating obstacles, and knowing when to take action.

A True Extension of the Architecture Team

For Amy, the biggest difference between Pulley and a traditional permit expediter comes down to what happens before an application ever reaches the city.

Rather than simply processing paperwork, Pulley's permitting experts proactively review drawings, identify potential issues, and help teams navigate requirements that can vary dramatically from one jurisdiction to the next.

That expertise is especially valuable for an architecture team working across the country, where local permitting knowledge can make the difference between a smooth review and weeks of avoidable back-and-forth.

"Most expediters I've worked with just process paperwork. I've never had one mark up drawings before submittal. Pulley does that, and it actually changes the quality of our submittals."

The relationship has evolved beyond individual projects, too.

Amy can turn to Pulley for help navigating a challenging jurisdiction, troubleshooting an unexpected issue, or even strategizing around a new client account. It's a level of collaboration that goes well beyond the typical vendor relationship.

"We have the type of relationship where I can just call, ask for help with questions, or strategize on a new account together. It's never just someone disconnected from Architecture or the drawing process," Amy explains.

For a team with more than $15 billion in completed construction projects, having that kind of partner means fewer administrative headaches, more predictable outcomes, and greater confidence in the information they share with clients.

And for Amy, that's what makes the biggest difference.

"It's not just, hand over something or just do your part. Pulley really is an extension of our team."