Costera Group is the practice of Raaj Amthabhai, a senior advisor on regulated industry permitting and entitlements.
Raaj founded Costera Group as a vehicle for selective senior advisory work across cannabis, alcoholic beverage, and fuel/convenience retail permitting. Active engagements include New Jersey CRC license-holders and applicants, California DCC portfolio license positions, and multi-state retail entitlement work.
His background spans direct license-holding, multi-site portfolio permitting, and ground-up regulatory program management. He has personally drafted CRC and DCC applications, sat in California Planning Commission hearings on contested CUPs, negotiated municipal and state liens to a small fraction of recorded amount, and structured cannabis ownership arrangements to satisfy NJ A4151, California DCR, and LAMC 104.20.
Costera Group is the practice; the engagements are the principal’s. There is no junior bench, no template factory, and no offshore back office.
What the practice brings to an engagement.
Direct License-Side Experience
Operator-side experience with New Jersey CRC Class 5 retail and California DCC retail and distribution licenses. Familiarity with the application, post-license, and audit posture from the inside, not from a vendor seat.
Multi-Site Portfolio Permitting
Program management of CUP, ABC, tobacco, environmental, and building review across a 500+ site fuel and convenience retail portfolio spanning multiple states.
Cross-Industry Regulatory Architecture
Working knowledge of the discretionary entitlement frameworks that govern cannabis (CRC, DCC), alcoholic beverage (CA ABC), and fuel/convenience (state and local agencies). The structural similarity across these regimes is the practice.
Languages
English (native), Gujarati (native), Spanish (conversational).
Where the practice is active.
New Jersey
Active CRC license-holder advisory; pipeline development across Atlantic, Sussex, Burlington, Salem, and Somerset counties.
California
Los Angeles County DCC portfolio; statewide ABC and CUP work for fuel, convenience, and hospitality operators.
Texas
Houston-based; selective regulated-industry advisory and Texas-licensed home health agency development.
How the practice operates.
How are engagements structured?
Most engagements are scoped as either a fixed-fee project (an application package, an entitlement workstream, a structuring matter) or a monthly retainer for ongoing compliance and program management. Hourly billing is uncommon and reserved for matters with unpredictable scope.
Is Costera Group a law firm?
No. Costera Group is a regulatory advisory practice, not a law firm. Costera does not provide legal advice and does not represent clients in litigation. Engagements involving transactional documentation or contested matters are coordinated with counsel of the client’s choice or with counsel referred from the practice’s network.
What jurisdictions are active?
The practice maintains active engagements in New Jersey and California, with selective work in Texas and additional jurisdictions on a referral basis.
How long is the typical engagement?
Fixed-scope project engagements run from six weeks (a discrete application or structuring matter) to nine to twelve months (a full ground-up entitlement and buildout). Retainer engagements are open-ended and reviewed quarterly.
Will the principal be doing the work?
Yes. The practice is structured around principal-led engagements. Coordination with counsel, civil engineers, architects, and other specialists is part of the work, but the strategic and documentary work is done by the principal.