The biggest construction permit filed in New York City this past month wasn't a new tower. It was a renovation — a $200 million alteration at Waters Place in the Bronx, filed to an owner of record listed only as 'PR.' That single filing outweighs the entire Staten Island permit haul for the month, all $65.4 million of it.

It's not alone. Six of the city's ten biggest permits filed in the last 30 days are alterations, not ground-up builds. Manhattan holds the next five in line: an $82.1 million Alteration CO on Broadway for Yellowstone Real Estate, $67.75 million on Broad Street for 111 Wall GC LLC, $66.17 million on 1st Avenue for X11 First Ave LLC, $65 million on Gouverneur Lane whose owner is listed only as 'Not Applicable,' and $57.5 million on Water Street for 7 Hanover Fee Owner Co LLC.

“The city's biggest job this month wasn't a hole in the ground. It was a $200 million facelift.”

Only four of the ten are labeled new construction: a $57 million tower on West 36th Street, a $54.3 million school for the NYC School Construction Authority on 175th Street in Queens, a $54 million Bronx job on Westchester Avenue credited only to 'Owners Rep,' and a $50.66 million Queens filing that keeps most of an existing building standing.

This isn't a fluke. Across all 12,007 permits filed citywide this past month, alterations outnumber new buildings better than six to one. What the top-ten list shows is that the pattern holds even at the biggest dollar figures. If you're a GC chasing nine-figure work in this city right now, the job is more likely a gut-and-rebuild of something already standing than a hole in the ground.

Notice how many of those owner fields say 'PR,' 'Not Applicable,' or 'Owners Rep' instead of a real name. DOB permit data will give you the address, the dollar figure, and the scope — it won't always give you who's paying for it. If you want the GC of record or the design team behind any of these, that's a follow-up call to DOB or the filing representative, not something the permit hands you on its own.

Source: NYC Department of Buildings permit filings, last 30 days, via NYC Open Data.