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Architect, San Francisco License C17977

Mcginnes Chen Associates

The city has issued 30 of the 34 San Francisco building permits that name Mcginnes Chen Associates since 2018. The work is mostly residential, led by apartments and multifamily. Their busiest neighborhoods are Noe Valley, South of Market and Pacific Heights.

Also filed as
engineer
Issued by the city
30 of 34 filed since 2018
Rank for apartments and multifamily
No. 68 of 659 by apartments and multifamily issued
Overall rank
No. 246 of 1,543 architects and designers
Commercial share
32% last filing Aug 2026

What they work on

Every San Francisco building permit with Mcginnes Chen Associates on the record since 2018, by project type. Most filed: 21 apartments and multifamily, 6 offices, 3 hotels, clinics, schools and other commercial.

Residential and commercial, by permits filed

68% residential
32% commercial
Permits by project type, filed and issued
  1. Apartments and multifamily Residential 20 of 21 issued 62% of filings.
  2. Offices Commercial 5 of 6 issued 18% of filings.
  3. Hotels, clinics, schools and other commercial Commercial 3 of 3 issued 9% of filings.
  4. Home remodels Residential 2 of 2 issued 6% of filings.
  5. Retail and shops Commercial 0 of 1 issued 3% of filings.
  6. Restaurants and bars Commercial 0 of 1 issued 3% of filings.

Permits over time

Permits filed each year, drawn as a street with one building per year, and how many of all their permits the city has issued.

Busiest year
2024
15 permits filed
Latest filing
Aug 2026
88% of 34 issued
Permits filed per year: 2018: 1, 2019: 1, 2020: 3, 2021: 2, 2022: 3, 2023: 1, 2024: 15, 2025: 5, 2026: 3. The 2026 figure runs through October 20, 2026.

One building per year, its height the permits filed. Each floor line marks 2 permits; the 2026 building is dashed because it counts permits filed through October 20, 2026.

Issued by the city: 30 of 34 permits filed

88%

All San Francisco project permits since 2018 in this data

93% issued

4 not issued as of October 20, 2026. Source: SF Department of Building Inspection permits via DataSF.

How fast their permits come through

Filing to issue for permits that went through plan review. Mcginnes Chen Associates has 0 of those across all project types; the citywide comparison is for apartments and multifamily, their most filed type, where 3,633 of 59,927 permits went through plan review and the rest were approved over the counter.

No median yet: fewer than 3 issued plan-review permits with usable dates.

Median months from filing to issue for plan-review permits. San Francisco, apartments and multifamily: 6.2 months. Middle half of city permits: 2.7 to 12.3 months.
105 other architects and designers ranked for apartments and multifamily have a median for it Each circle is a firm's median for its plan-review permits for apartments and multifamily. Dashed line: the median of all San Francisco plan-review permits for apartments and multifamily, 6.2 months. Shaded: the middle half of those permits, 2.7 to 12.3 months.
0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21+ months Halyard Construction Inc.: 6.2 months Hkit Architects: 9.4 months Shatara Architecture: 17.7 months Xie Associates: 9.0 months Thousand Architects: 8.9 months Syncopated Architecture: 8.6 months Openscope Studio: 5.4 months Hood Thomas Architects: 13.0 months Gelfand Partners Architects: 4.5 months Gensler: 5.1 months Architects Sf: 11.4 months Arcus Architecture & Planning: 4.8 months Ssdp: 5.2 months Levy Design Partners: 9.8 months Stanton Architecture: 11.2 months Topetcher Architectural: 12.6 months Kotas/Pantaleoni Architects: 13.2 months David Baker Architects: 9.3 months Ya Studio: 8.9 months Nathan Simpson Architect: 18.5 months Jason M.J.Chan Architect: 3.2 months Jorge Carbonell Architecture: 5.1 months Troy Kashanipour: 14.6 months Rg-Architecture: 9.8 months D-Scheme Studio: 8.6 months Schaub | Li | Architects: 19.3 months Houston / Tyner: 6.9 months Beaumont & Associates: 25.2 months Cm Architects: 14.3 months Kerman Morris Architects: 13.9 months Bde Architecture: 15.9 months Tecta Associates: 12.6 months Martinkovic Milford Architects: 9.8 months Mithun Architects: 3.9 months Leavitt Architecture: 5.0 months Bar Architects: 7.6 months Peter Petruzzi Architect: 6.2 months Ottolini Booth & Associates: 13.3 months Gary Gee Architects, Inc.: 30.9 months Chris Sullivan: 11.0 months Ankrom Moisan: 6.1 months Paulett Taggart Architects: 6.2 months Dnm Architect: 9.9 months Knock Arch & Design: 12.4 months William Pashelinsky Arch.: 32.0 months Red Cloud Wireless: 5.1 months Huang Iboshi Architecture: 20.3 months Michael Harris Architecture: 9.9 months Aaron Lim Design: 9.1 months Rodgers Architecture: 11.5 months Mml Architect: 11.4 months Zachary Nathan Architect: 12.1 months Sutro Architects: 16.0 months Robles & Assocciates: 18.7 months Solomon Cordwell Buenz: 16.2 months Louis Felthouse: 24.1 months Handel Architects,Llp: 9.1 months Pacific Das: 4.6 months John Lum Architecture: 15.8 months Santos Prescott & Assoc.: 6.6 months Baukunst: 7.6 months Studio 12 Architecture: 24.2 months Harvey Hacker Architects: 15.6 months Plinth Architecture: 10.0 months Hks Architects: 7.7 months The John Stewart Company: 6.8 months Som: 9.2 months Mason Kirby Inc.: 12.0 months Rex Mclean Architects: 8.8 months Farrrell Architecture: 6.8 months Bunton Mousavi Architecture: 3.4 months Natoma Architects Inc.: 6.4 months Stan Teng Architecture Studio: 7.0 months Arquitectonica: 3.9 months Mark Cavagnero Associates: 8.8 months Page & Turnbull, Inc.: 12.7 months Perry Architectus, Inc.: 17.0 months L.A. Paul & Associates: 29.0 months Ccs Architecture: 8.3 months Field Paoli Architects: 3.0 months Dmarc Studio: 13.2 months Van Meter Williams Pollack Llp: 12.7 months Sternberg Benjamin Architects: 15.0 months Steinberg Hart: 6.4 months Sgpa Arch & Planning: 13.8 months Leddy Maytum Architects: 22.4 months Leddy May Tun Stacy Arch.: 2.3 months Winder Gibson Architects: 33.5 months Herman Coliver Locus Arch: 2.7 months Corbel Architects: 7.1 months Caroline Souza: 1.4 months Leddy Maytum Stacy Archi: 14.7 months Winder Gison Architects: 31.7 months Dumican Mosey Architects: 15.2 months Mavrik Studio: 6.7 months Leonardozylberberg Architect: 37.8 months Mbh: 10.2 months Interstice Architects: 9.4 months Nastaran Mousavi: 11.5 months Angela Matt Architect, Inc.: 1.4 months Century Electric: 11.7 months James Gates Architectural Corp: 5.6 months Page & Turnboll: 5.1 months Marx | Okubo Associates Inc: 4.4 months Tk Architect: 7.2 months 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21+ months Halyard Construction Inc.: 6.2 months Hkit Architects: 9.4 months Shatara Architecture: 17.7 months Xie Associates: 9.0 months Thousand Architects: 8.9 months Syncopated Architecture: 8.6 months Openscope Studio: 5.4 months Hood Thomas Architects: 13.0 months Gelfand Partners Architects: 4.5 months Gensler: 5.1 months Architects Sf: 11.4 months Arcus Architecture & Planning: 4.8 months Ssdp: 5.2 months Levy Design Partners: 9.8 months Stanton Architecture: 11.2 months Topetcher Architectural: 12.6 months Kotas/Pantaleoni Architects: 13.2 months David Baker Architects: 9.3 months Ya Studio: 8.9 months Nathan Simpson Architect: 18.5 months Jason M.J.Chan Architect: 3.2 months Jorge Carbonell Architecture: 5.1 months Troy Kashanipour: 14.6 months Rg-Architecture: 9.8 months D-Scheme Studio: 8.6 months Schaub | Li | Architects: 19.3 months Houston / Tyner: 6.9 months Beaumont & Associates: 25.2 months Cm Architects: 14.3 months Kerman Morris Architects: 13.9 months Bde Architecture: 15.9 months Tecta Associates: 12.6 months Martinkovic Milford Architects: 9.8 months Mithun Architects: 3.9 months Leavitt Architecture: 5.0 months Bar Architects: 7.6 months Peter Petruzzi Architect: 6.2 months Ottolini Booth & Associates: 13.3 months Gary Gee Architects, Inc.: 30.9 months Chris Sullivan: 11.0 months Ankrom Moisan: 6.1 months Paulett Taggart Architects: 6.2 months Dnm Architect: 9.9 months Knock Arch & Design: 12.4 months William Pashelinsky Arch.: 32.0 months Red Cloud Wireless: 5.1 months Huang Iboshi Architecture: 20.3 months Michael Harris Architecture: 9.9 months Aaron Lim Design: 9.1 months Rodgers Architecture: 11.5 months Mml Architect: 11.4 months Zachary Nathan Architect: 12.1 months Sutro Architects: 16.0 months Robles & Assocciates: 18.7 months Solomon Cordwell Buenz: 16.2 months Louis Felthouse: 24.1 months Handel Architects,Llp: 9.1 months Pacific Das: 4.6 months John Lum Architecture: 15.8 months Santos Prescott & Assoc.: 6.6 months Baukunst: 7.6 months Studio 12 Architecture: 24.2 months Harvey Hacker Architects: 15.6 months Plinth Architecture: 10.0 months Hks Architects: 7.7 months The John Stewart Company: 6.8 months Som: 9.2 months Mason Kirby Inc.: 12.0 months Rex Mclean Architects: 8.8 months Farrrell Architecture: 6.8 months Bunton Mousavi Architecture: 3.4 months Natoma Architects Inc.: 6.4 months Stan Teng Architecture Studio: 7.0 months Arquitectonica: 3.9 months Mark Cavagnero Associates: 8.8 months Page & Turnbull, Inc.: 12.7 months Perry Architectus, Inc.: 17.0 months L.A. Paul & Associates: 29.0 months Ccs Architecture: 8.3 months Field Paoli Architects: 3.0 months Dmarc Studio: 13.2 months Van Meter Williams Pollack Llp: 12.7 months Sternberg Benjamin Architects: 15.0 months Steinberg Hart: 6.4 months Sgpa Arch & Planning: 13.8 months Leddy Maytum Architects: 22.4 months Leddy May Tun Stacy Arch.: 2.3 months Winder Gibson Architects: 33.5 months Herman Coliver Locus Arch: 2.7 months Corbel Architects: 7.1 months Caroline Souza: 1.4 months Leddy Maytum Stacy Archi: 14.7 months Winder Gison Architects: 31.7 months Dumican Mosey Architects: 15.2 months Mavrik Studio: 6.7 months Leonardozylberberg Architect: 37.8 months Mbh: 10.2 months Interstice Architects: 9.4 months Nastaran Mousavi: 11.5 months Angela Matt Architect, Inc.: 1.4 months Century Electric: 11.7 months James Gates Architectural Corp: 5.6 months Page & Turnboll: 5.1 months Marx | Okubo Associates Inc: 4.4 months Tk Architect: 7.2 months

10 firms with medians over 21 months are drawn at the right edge.

Where they rank

Ranked by permits the city has issued since 2018, first across every project type, then for apartments and multifamily alone.

  1. 244 Steven Whitney, Architect 30
  2. 245 Don Liang 30
  3. 246 Mcginnes Chen Associates 30
  4. 247 Ojanen Chiou Architets Llp 30
  5. 248 Saa 30

All permits issued, 1,543 architects and designers Full ranking

  1. 66 Consortium 20
  2. 67 Red Cloud Wireless 20
  3. 68 Mcginnes Chen Associates 20
  4. 69 Aem 19
  5. 70 Huang Iboshi Architecture 19

Apartments and multifamily issued, 659 architects and designers Apartments and multifamily ranking

Where they work

The neighborhoods where Mcginnes Chen Associates files the most permits, and how many architects and designers count each one among their top 4 neighborhoods.

  1. 01 Noe Valley 231 architects and designers count Noe Valley among their busiest neighborhoods
  2. 02 South of Market 216 architects and designers count South of Market among their busiest neighborhoods
  3. 03 Pacific Heights 221 architects and designers count Pacific Heights among their busiest neighborhoods
  4. 04 Financial District/South Beach 386 architects and designers count Financial District/South Beach among their busiest neighborhoods

Questions for the first call

  1. Which of your recent San Francisco permits are closest to my project in type, size and neighborhood, and can I see the permit numbers?
  2. How long did those permits take from filing to issue, and what did plan check send back?
  3. Who on your team draws the set, who stamps it, and who answers the city's comments?

Other architects and designers for apartments and multifamily

Firms ranked near Mcginnes Chen Associates by permits issued for apartments and multifamily.

  1. 65 William Pashelinsky Arch. 20 apartments and multifamily issued · 32.0 mo median for apartments and multifamily
  2. 66 Consortium 20 apartments and multifamily issued
  3. 67 Red Cloud Wireless 20 apartments and multifamily issued · 5.1 mo median for apartments and multifamily
  4. 69 Aem 19 apartments and multifamily issued
  5. 70 Huang Iboshi Architecture 19 apartments and multifamily issued · 20.3 mo median for apartments and multifamily
  6. 71 Romain Curtis Architect 19 apartments and multifamily issued

See all 659 architects and designers ranked for apartments and multifamily

Sheet
A-246 No. 246 of 1,543
Drawing
Permit record, Mcginnes Chen Associates
Architect, San Francisco
License
C17977 check with CAB
Data as of
Oct 2026
Scale
Not to scale

Built only from public San Francisco Department of Building Inspection records (permits, permit contacts), updated 2026-10-20. It is not a review or an endorsement, and Mcginnes Chen Associates has not paid to be listed. Project addresses are never shown.

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