Retail Architects Are Using Pulley to Take Back Time From Permitting

See how three retail architects rely on Pulley to simplify permitting, keep projects moving, and deliver for their clients.

Most architects enjoy designing buildings, not chasing down building department approvals. But in the world of retail, that responsibility often lands squarely on architects’ desks.

In retail, hitting target dates is critical to business goals, and a delayed approval can ripple into construction schedules, lease terms, and store openings. When that happens, the architect is the one that clients turn to for answers.

Amy Sjursen, VP at JLL Design, explained, “If you give a client bad information once…they’re going to start questioning the information you’re giving them and not trust you as a partner. That reputation is worth its weight in gold.”

The Permitting Pains Architects Can’t Ignore

Permitting piles on challenges that pull architects away from their core work:

Time-Consuming Research

Even the most thorough site research can miss requirements that only come to light after a client has signed a lease.

Virginia Maggiore, Principal of Store Planning at RDC, recalled one costly miss, “I once had a client sign a 10-year lease on a space that used to be a synagogue, and the last tenant was a pop-up retailer. When my client came in to build the store, the city would not change the use. That was catastrophic.”

Manual Workflows

Most firms still rely on Excel sheets, checklists, and email threads to track permitting tasks. Add in sending drawings to different expediters, chasing down expired document links, and endless email chains, and information gets scattered fast.

As Virginia put it, “It could get all over the place…very messy, very disorganized.”

Tricky Timelines

Architects can work overtime on drawings, but they can’t control city review cycles. Matt Dorcy, VP and co-founder of Fuzion, described it plainly: “We could get the drawings done in time, but once you hand that off, you’re a little bit at the mercy of the AHJ for how long they’re going to take.”

Unpredictable Comment Rounds

A project can be thrown into another review cycle at the last minute. Amy recalled how her team used to scramble just to figure out what version was submitted or which comments still needed addressing.

And when these things happen, the fallout isn’t just schedule slips. It’s architects fielding frustrated client calls and carrying the blame.

How Better Permitting Support Solves These Issues

The good news: these problems aren’t inevitable. They can be solved with the right permitting support. Virginia, Matt, and Amy’s teams use Pulley as their permitting partner, changing how they manage approvals and giving them greater confidence in the information they share with clients.

Better Research

Pulley delivers that quickly and with a 98% accuracy rate, combining expert-backed review, AI agents, and robust data collected from $15 billion worth of approved commercial projects.

“The due diligence we get from Pulley at the beginning of the project is some of the best we’ve ever gotten,” Virginia notes. “It’s really in depth.”

Centralized Submittals

With Pulley, every file, revision, and submittal lives in one place. And once it’s ready, Pulley’s permitting experts send it to the city for you: no chasing down links or wondering if the right version was uploaded.

Amy remembers a moment when a teammate was out on vacation:

“Being able to just jump in there and find the document we needed, verify the version immediately without having to chase down emails … that saved the day for us.”

Dynamic Forecasting

Pulley combines jurisdiction-specific knowledge, active permit management, and project tracking to help architects forecast approval timelines with greater confidence. As requirements or review schedules change, Pulley's team helps keep forecasts current so architects can give clients more reliable updates.

For Amy, that reliability is key when she’s in front of clients.

“When we’re projecting projects, we use Pulley’s forecast to speak to it on client calls,” she shares. “I feel confident I’m giving them the most accurate information.”

Predictability and Speed

Pulley helps project teams secure 2x faster approvals, and 40% of projects are approved with zero comments at all. By catching common issues before submittal and keeping projects on track, Pulley's team helps architects avoid unnecessary comment rounds and keep design and permitting requirements aligned from the start.

Matt loves the work Pulley enables his team to do:

“We like to try to take on big challenges. We’re not yes-people, but we want to find a path to yes. Pulley takes pressure off us and helps us get there.”

Having a partner like Pulley doesn't eliminate the complexity of permitting, but it makes the process more manageable, predictable, and less risky for architects.

What Sets Pulley’s Permitting Service Apart

The tools and processes make permitting easier to manage. But for the architects we spoke with, it's the people behind the service who make the biggest difference.

Pulley's permitting experts are licensed architects and engineers who have direct experience with AHJs across the country. They mark up drawings before submittal, surface likely comments, and act as a sounding board for design teams.

Amy highlighted how different that feels compared to traditional expediters:

"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."

For design teams, Pulley's service means two things:

• Nationwide coverage: Instead of cobbling together local expediters with mixed results, Pulley handles projects across multiple jurisdictions with consistency.
• A true extension of the team: Architects don’t feel like they’re handing off to a disconnected vendor. They’re working side by side with people who understand their priorities and can even join client calls with confidence.

As Amy puts it: “I really feel like Pulley is an extension of our team…a team I can bring straight into a client call and trust.”

Virginia echoed that sentiment: “Pulley isn’t just providing a service, they’re a partner. They sit at the table with us and with our clients.”

And Matt emphasized the cultural fit: “We want partners who can keep up with fast retail schedules and still find a path to yes. Pulley’s team has been that partner.”

Permitting Support Is a Value Add, Not a Weakness

For architects accustomed to owning every aspect of a project, bringing in outside permitting support can feel like giving up control. But for Amy, Virginia, and Matt, the opposite has been true.

With Pulley managing the permitting process, their teams can stay informed and involved without spending hours tracking submissions, chasing updates, or navigating jurisdiction requirements themselves.

Amy shares the real impact for her:

“I’d say maybe I’m spending 50% of the total time I used to spend on expediters and checking on status of the project.”

For retail architects, that's the real value of better permitting support: more time for design, greater confidence in project timelines, and a partner they can trust when clients need answers. Interested in learning more? Let’s chat.

We reference conversations with three retail architects in this story:

• Matt Dorcy, VP and co-founder of Fuzion: Read his full interview here
• Virginia Maggiore, Principal of Store Planning at RDC: Read her full interview here
• Amy Sjursen, VP at JLL Design: Read her full interview here

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