Building intelligence · San Francisco · New York · Seattle

Every building is a record

BuiltAtlas turns the fragmented history, design, regulation and data behind existing buildings into one structured intelligence layer. Understand what a building is, how it changed, what constrains it, and what can happen next.

San Francisco · 1915

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The problem

All of it was written down. None of it was written together.

Permits live in one system. Zoning in another. Architectural history, alterations, ownership, assessments, plans and preservation records are scattered across databases, PDFs, archives and agencies. BuiltAtlas connects them around the building itself.

What it costs

You shouldn’t need weeks to learn a building won’t work

Most existing buildings fail their own feasibility test. The expensive part is that it takes weeks of assembly to find out — and the constraint that kills the project is usually the last thing to surface.

20–40%Of buildings are viable candidates for residential conversion
$300–500Hard cost per sq ft when a conversion does proceed
6+Separate municipal systems BuiltAtlas reconciles per building

Conversion viability and cost figures are published industry estimates, not BuiltAtlas data. The systems count is ours: six municipal datasets in San Francisco, four in New York, plus the public architectural register.

What BuiltAtlas is

The building graph

Buildings aren’t documents. They are networks of relationships. BuiltAtlas connects a building to everything known about it — producing a structured model that people and AI agents can query.

Building
ParcelAPN · BBL · lot
ArchitectDesigner · firm
PermitsFilings · costs
AlterationsChange of use
ZoningDistrict · FAR
Historic statusLandmark · district
MaterialsStructure · style
OwnershipOwner of record
FormFloor plate · height
ContextNearby · development
SourcesEvery field, cited
Answers you can inspect. Sources you can verify. Every field carries its source, its date, and whether an authority asserted it or BuiltAtlas derived it from inputs we name.

The product

An address in. The building, assembled.

BuiltAtlas resolves public records, planning data, permits, architectural history, alterations, ownership, zoning and surrounding context into a single Building Record — linked back to its sources.

A real record · unedited

One building. One record. Six seconds.

BuiltAtlas assembles the available record, resolves conflicts, preserves provenance, and gives you somewhere to ask questions about the building rather than hunt through source systems.

140 New Montgomery Street

Pacific Telephone Building · San Francisco

Assessor parcel3722080

Built1925SF Assessor
ArchitectMiller & PfluegerWikidata
Style & materialsArt Deco · steel, limestone, terracottaWikidata
ZoningC-3-O (SD)SF Parcels
Scale26 floors · 342,574 sq ftSF Assessor
Floor area ratio14.55area ÷ lot
Office share83%from use mix
Permits on record50SF Permits
Historic statusNot yet sourcedabsent ≠ none
Conflict

The Assessor reports 342,574 sq ft. The city’s land-use file reports 110,079. BuiltAtlas reports both, and says so, rather than quietly choosing one.

Ask BuiltAtlas

Questions, not queries

Because the record is structured and connected, it can be asked rather than searched. These are real questions BuiltAtlas answers today from the data it holds — each one traced back to a source.

Feasibility
  • Could this office building become housing?
  • What would prevent a residential conversion here?
  • How deep is the floor plate, and does that work for apartments?
  • Is there unused development right on this lot?
  • Is it predominantly office, and by how much?
Regulation
  • Is this building landmarked?
  • Does it sit inside a historic district?
  • What does the zoning here allow?
  • Is there a seismic retrofit obligation attached?
  • What is built, against what is permitted?
History
  • Who designed this, and what else did they build?
  • What was on this site before?
  • When was it last significantly altered?
  • Has it ever changed use?
  • What is it made of, and in what style?
Context
  • What notable buildings are within two blocks?
  • What else did this architect build near here?
  • Who owns it, on the public record?
  • Is the rental registration current, and for how many units?
  • How much of this has BuiltAtlas actually verified?
  • Where do the sources disagree?

Every answer returns the fields it was drawn from, each with its source and date — so a claim can be checked rather than trusted. Where BuiltAtlas does not know, it says so instead of guessing.

Who it is for

Decisions about existing buildings

ArchitectsUnderstand precedent, alterations, constraints and existing conditions before design begins.
DevelopersSurface zoning, preservation and permitting constraints before committing serious diligence spend.
Owners & asset managersA durable intelligence record for every building in the portfolio.
Property managersRegistration status, permitted unit counts and liability flags before taking a building on.

San Francisco and New York are live. We are working with a small number of teams before opening it up — tell us which buildings are giving you trouble.