Envelope Launches: Architect-Grade NYC Zoning Feasibility Studies in Minutes, Checked Against Architects' Studies and DOB Approvals Before Every Release
Envelope turns a $1,500 to $10,000 zoning study that takes weeks into a cited, drawn report on any lot in the five boroughs, starting with a free check.
Envelope (runenvelope.com), a zoning feasibility platform for New York City real estate, today announced its public launch. Envelope produces an architect-grade zoning analysis for any tax lot in the five boroughs in minutes: every legal development scenario modeled as an actual building, per-floor sketch plans, 3D massing and cross-sections, tax program eligibility, and a citation to the Zoning Resolution section behind every number.
Before anyone can bid on a New York lot, someone has to answer one question: what can legally be built here? The conventional answer, a feasibility study from an architect or zoning attorney, costs roughly $1,500 to $10,000 and takes weeks. That is fine once a site is in contract. It is useless at the moment it is actually needed, which is while deciding whether to pursue the site at all.
“Before anyone bids on a lot in this city, they either pay for a study or they bid on incomplete information,” said Sam Eshaghoff, founder of Envelope. “Neither works at the moment it matters most, which is before you know whether the site is worth pursuing. Envelope makes the study fast and inexpensive enough to run on every lot you look at, and it shows the Zoning Resolution section behind every number.”
Checked before every release
Envelope publishes how its engine is checked. Before every release, the engine is scored against zoning studies prepared by licensed architects and engineers for real New York lots, field by field: FAR by use, maximum zoning floor area, base and maximum heights, yards, setbacks, lot coverage, dwelling unit maximums and site conditions, each held to professional tolerances. It is also run against hundreds of DOB-approved New Building filings across every borough, stratified by district family, special district, waterfront, corner and split-zone conditions, to confirm that the as-of-right envelope it computes is never exceeded by what examiners actually approved. An accuracy gate runs on every deployment. A release that scores lower than the last one cannot ship. The method is at runenvelope.com/accuracy.
What is in a report
- ■Every legal path, built. As-of-right, City of Yes Universal Affordability Preference (UAP), Mandatory and Voluntary Inclusionary Housing, community facility, Tower-on-Base, shared housing (SRO), and, where a building already stands, retain-and-enlarge and residential conversion. FAR, height, floors and unit count per scenario, side by side.
- ■Every floor, drawn. Per-floor plates with unit layouts, core and corridor placement, stair geometry; cross-sections at the critical heights; 3D massing. Native DXF, OBJ, GLB and IFC exports for Revit, AutoCAD, Rhino and SketchUp.
- ■Every claim, cited. The full Zoning Resolution citation table, special district and overlay overrides applied automatically, Building Code Chapter 5 analysis, and 421-a, J-51, ICAP and 485-x eligibility.
- ■Delivered as a document. A white-label PDF and a live web view, shareable by link, with free re-runs on the same lot as the design changes.
Irregular lots, split-zoned parcels, assemblages and special districts are handled per edge rather than averaged.
City of Yes made the question harder
The City of Yes for Housing Opportunity text amendment, adopted December 5, 2024, rewrote the floor area regime for low-density districts, introduced UAP bonuses in R6 through R10, changed transit zone parking rules, and arrived alongside the new 485-x tax incentive. “The number of legal answers for a single lot went from two or three to a dozen,” Eshaghoff said. “Nobody can hold that in their head anymore, and most people will not pay an architect to work it out for a lot they might not buy. The free check exists so you do not have to.”
Pricing
Anyone can enter an address at runenvelope.com and see the envelope, FAR, buildable square footage and the list of legal scenarios at no charge, with no account. Full reports are available a la carte from $149, tiered by buildable square footage. Pro is $4,990 per year or $1,950 per quarter and includes ten full reports every month.
About Envelope
Envelope (runenvelope.com) produces architect-grade zoning feasibility reports for any New York City lot: every legal development scenario modeled, per-floor sketch plans, 3D massing, and full Zoning Resolution citations, in minutes. Envelope was founded by Sam Eshaghoff. It models what is permitted as of right; it is not a licensed architect, engineer or attorney, and a report is a well-cited first read designed to tell you which lots deserve the expensive version.
