Minneapolis permits, live

Endpoint (no auth, updated daily): https://services.arcgis.com/afSMGVsC7QlRK1kZ/arcgis/rest/services/CCS_Permits/FeatureServer/0/query Page with resultOffset + resultRecordCount=2000 until exceededTransferLimit is false. Dates in where: issueDate >= date '2026-03-01'. Epoch-ms in results.

Older structural traps: there is no project value; a row is not a project (one project spans many trade permits); the trade mix skews to plumbing/mechanical; and there are two different definitions of "commercial".

Fields that matter

Display (address), APN (= Hennepin PID, joins to parcels), Latitude/Longitude, Neighborhoods_Desc, permitType, occupancyType, workType, status, milestone, comments (free text, the richest field), issueDate, completeDate, applicantName (contractor OR homeowner), totalFees. value is empty on every row.

Values, measured fall 2026

• permitType since Mar 1: Plumbing, Mechanical, Res, Commercial, Wrecking, Site. No Sign type.
• occupancyType: SFD, TFD, 3to4, MFD, TH, Comm, Mixed, Accessory, blank.
• workType: Res → Misc, Remodel, Addition, Accessory, New. Commercial → Remodel, RoofWind, Addition, New. Wrecking → Private.
• status: Issued, Closed, Cancelled, Expired. milestone: Inspection, Final Inspection, Closed. "Final Inspection" = about to open, the best timing signal in the register.

Traps, each hit in practice

• permitType='Commercial' includes condo and apartment units, one row per unit (one building x7). Filter occupancyType IN ('Comm','Mixed') and dedupe on (Display, first 80 chars of comments). Why: otherwise one condo kitchen reads as seven restaurants.
• comments is boilerplate-heavy. Cut at "certificate of occupancy", "const type", "Building Code", reviewer initials "(JJL)", "-ACW", "(DMH - Pdox)"; some rows are "Source Information is Not Available" — show those as blank.
• Keyword filters over-match: "repair shop" (hospital bed repair), "gym" (bleacher replacement), "kitchen" (residential units, kitchen fire). Exclude explicitly and eyeball the top 40 rows before rendering.
• Don't parse business names out of comments. Regex output was wrong 3 of 4 times.
• applicantName is sometimes the homeowner. Show it only when it reads as a company (INC/CORP/CONSTRUCTION/BUILDERS/HOMES or another company suffix); never show fullName.
• An open wrecking permit doesn't mean the building still stands. Say so on the page.
• Year built isn't in the register: POST PIDs in batches of 150 to https://gis.hennepin.us/arcgis/rest/services/HennepinData/LAND_PROPERTY/MapServer/1/query (where=PID IN (...), outFields=PID,BUILD_YR). ~98% of PIDs match.
• Minneapolis only. Saint Paul's register stopped publishing 2025-06-30.
• Saint Paul demolitions live in their own layer: services1.arcgis.com/9meaaHE3uiba0zr8/.../Permit_Tppe_Demolition_Permit/FeatureServer/0, ~1,100 rows to 2025-06-30, WORK_TYPE Residential/Commercial Demo vs accessory structures. CONTRACTORNAME prefixes a PERSON's name to the company ("FIRSTNAME LASTNAME LASTNAME & SONS INC"): strip the person before display. Contractor phones for haulers: FMCSA SAFER by curl; its keyword search is fuzzy, so require the query in the LEGAL name.

Related: counterparty-gift (a task that builds a lead list from this).