ABOUT BuildCentral

BuildCentral's range of planned construction database products and location analytics tools help builders, manufacturers, suppliers, service providers, and investors discover new opportunities and customers across sectors.

From PlannedRetail, HotelMarketData, and ConstructionWire to MedicalConstructionData, ResidentialData, and Geospatial Energy and Mining (GEM), we don't leave any stone unturned.

We track projects’ entire lifecycles from early, pre-permit planning stages all the way through completion with over 20 years' experience fine-tuning our machine learning- and human-backed data curation.

OUR EXPERIENCE

Two brothers founded BuildCentral in 2000 with the goal of providing the most relevant data for developing projects. The ensuing seven years saw the pair's database and team grow, and research and sales departments expanded with them.

The 2007 launch of Custom Q&A — on-demand, timely research informed by client inquiries — really got the ball rolling. To date, our users have asked 54,000 custom questions. It was that acknowledgement of what our clients really need that prompted the initial research into what would eventually become HotelMarketData.

Just a year later, in 2010, HotelMarketData and Hotel Profiles were realized, and we didn't stop there. MedicalConstructionData came to market in 2011, and we released MultiFamilyData in 2014.

Ultimately, though, the data itself wasn't enough. We wanted to create an experience that not only provided our clients with the information and tools that they need to generate leads, research their markets, and win bids, but also to do so with an intuitive, easy-to-use range of products. Bring on the 2016 redesign and release of an updated and improved user interface.

Since then, the family that began with two brothers has only grown. BCI Media, which has operations spanning the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia, acquired BuildCentral to build its North American presence in 2019. Then, in 2021, ByggFakta Group, a Sweden-headquartered leader in global construction industry software and information, took us under its wing.

Through the growth and transitions, our ideal has remained the same: to provide our users — our extended family — with the planned construction data that powers both their businesses and our own, all while maintaining our original bias toward quality service and attention to detail.

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January 2000
Hello World
Ideated and developed by two brothers in a college business incubator, the business that would soon become BuildCentral begins capturing and selling information on construction projects.
April 2003
ConstructionWire Is Here!
BuildCentral launches ConstructionWire, an online portal to access planned construction opportunities and share electronic newsletters detailing significant construction projects.
April 2003
Welcome to the Windy City
BuildCentral relocates from the Boston area to what remains our headquarters today: Chicago, Illinois.
May 2005
Let's Demo It
In picking up construction project information, we find a series of demolition and building-razing projects. BuildCentral aggregates them in DemolitionX, a new database to assist those companies helping to recycle and increase safety in our built environment.
May 2008
Seeing Green
Recognizing the need to grow the industry's awareness of the importance and opportunity of "green" buildings, BuildCentral launches a free forum platform, GreenBuildingTalk, to facilitate sustainable construction-information sharing and community development.
January 2010
No Stone Unturned
BuildCentral officially begins capturing planned projects across the entire United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, marking the start of its comprehensive national coverage of planned construction.
April 2010
Hello Hospitality
In response to customer and market needs in the hospitality industry, BuildCentral expands its information-gathering and launches HotelMarketData, replete with crucial datapoints like brands, franchises, amenities, and more.
September 2011
Comprehensive Care
MedicalConstructionData launches to bring BuildCentral users a planned construction data product for medical projects from acute care hospitals and cancer centers to ambulatory surgery centers and medical offices. Plus, we track Certificate of Need status.
January 2012
Meet MultiFamilyData
We launch our first planned residential construction product, MultiFamilyData, to track multi-family projects' complete project lifecycles across scales, building types, unit types, purchase options, and more.
December 2019
Going Global
BCI Central, our friends whose global operations stretch from the United States to Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia, acquired BuildCentral, thus creating the first and only business providing construction project information in both hemispheres.
January 2021
Presenting Planned Grocery
BuildCentral acquires Planned Grocery with an eye for its strength in providing vertical-specific information for our members. Planned Grocery's focus on site geolocation and trade area analysis in the real estate sector set the table for a string of service expansions.
January 2021
SingleFamilyData Too
Partnering with a current customer, BuildCentral expands its residential data coverage to include SingeFamilyData on housing developments across the entire United States. In helping users visualize and analyze the entire housing market, we offer unique insights specifically into built-for-rent developments.
March 2021
A Prized GEM
In tandem with BCI Central, we expand our research teams and launch Geospatial Energy and Mining (GEM), the first such database built for North America. GEM captures and shares mining, oil & gas, and renewable energy project data across their entire lifecycles.
June 2021
Geospex Goes Big
With help from BuildCentral's new Planned Grocery team members, we implement mapping and geospatial analysis tools — including political, geographic, meteorological, demographic, and drive-time & distance overlays — for our entire customer base by bringing Geospex to each of our products.
August 2021
Family Matters
The success of BCI Central's and BuildCentral's partnership attracts Byggfakta Group, a Sweden-based leader in global construction industry software and information, as it looks to stretch its worldwide reach.
October 2021
Plans & Specs Galore!
BuildCentral starts to collect and provide plans and specifications for select projects in most of its platforms, thus laying the groundwork for expanded capabilities currently under development.
January 2022
PlannedRetail Premiers
Adding to the pioneering reporting and site location information found in Planned Grocery, BuildCentral launches PlannedRetail with coverage of all retail types and critical filters for brand, intent, location, among others.
July 2022
Polishing GEM
After more than a year in development, GEM relaunches with Geospex mapping, a refreshed UI and website, and expansive coverage of energy and mining projects in the United States and Canada.

OUR FAMILY

Byggfakta Group is a global leader in construction software and information services. Based in Sweden, ByggFakta Group's umbrella contains BCI Central, whose global operations span across the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, and BuildCentral. BuildCentral has been collecting and curating planned construction data since 2000. While our family has grown and extended far beyond our headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, we pride ourselves on maintaining our original mission to provide our users with the accurate planned development data most relevant to their businesses via our range of intuitive products.
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