diff --git a/middleware/parseBBox.js b/middleware/parseBBox.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..990b3498
--- /dev/null
+++ b/middleware/parseBBox.js
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+var logger = require('pelias-logger').get('api');
+
+/**
+ * Parses the bounding box property in docs, if one is found
+ */
+
+function setup() {
+  return function (req, res, next) {
+    // do nothing if no result data set
+    if (!res || !res.data) {
+      return next();
+    }
+
+    res.data = res.data.map(parseBBox);
+
+    next();
+  };
+}
+
+/*
+ * Parse the bbox property and form an object
+ */
+function parseBBox(place) {
+
+  if (place && place.bounding_box) {
+    try {
+      place.bounding_box = JSON.parse(place.bounding_box);
+    }
+    catch (err) {
+      logger.error('Invalid bounding_box json string:', place);
+      delete place.bounding_box;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return place;
+}
+
+module.exports = setup;
diff --git a/routes/v1.js b/routes/v1.js
index 00c99aa5..eacd0a40 100644
--- a/routes/v1.js
+++ b/routes/v1.js
@@ -34,7 +34,8 @@ var postProc = {
   localNamingConventions: require('../middleware/localNamingConventions'),
   renamePlacenames: require('../middleware/renamePlacenames'),
   geocodeJSON: require('../middleware/geocodeJSON'),
-  sendJSON: require('../middleware/sendJSON')
+  sendJSON: require('../middleware/sendJSON'),
+  parseBoundingBox: require('../middleware/parseBBox')
 };
 
 /**
@@ -65,6 +66,7 @@ function addRoutes(app, peliasConfig) {
       postProc.dedupe(),
       postProc.localNamingConventions(),
       postProc.renamePlacenames(),
+      postProc.parseBoundingBox(),
       postProc.geocodeJSON(peliasConfig, base),
       postProc.sendJSON
     ]),
@@ -76,6 +78,7 @@ function addRoutes(app, peliasConfig) {
       postProc.dedupe(),
       postProc.localNamingConventions(),
       postProc.renamePlacenames(),
+      postProc.parseBoundingBox(),
       postProc.geocodeJSON(peliasConfig, base),
       postProc.sendJSON
     ]),
@@ -90,6 +93,7 @@ function addRoutes(app, peliasConfig) {
       postProc.dedupe(),
       postProc.localNamingConventions(),
       postProc.renamePlacenames(),
+      postProc.parseBoundingBox(),
       postProc.geocodeJSON(peliasConfig, base),
       postProc.sendJSON
     ]),
@@ -98,6 +102,7 @@ function addRoutes(app, peliasConfig) {
       controllers.place(),
       postProc.localNamingConventions(),
       postProc.renamePlacenames(),
+      postProc.parseBoundingBox(),
       postProc.geocodeJSON(peliasConfig, base),
       postProc.sendJSON
     ]),
diff --git a/test/unit/middleware/parseBBox.js b/test/unit/middleware/parseBBox.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4e2cd802
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/middleware/parseBBox.js
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+var parseBBox = require('../../../middleware/parseBBox')();
+
+module.exports.tests = {};
+
+module.exports.tests.computeDistance = function(test, common) {
+  test('valid bounding_box json', function(t) {
+    var res = {
+      data: [
+        {
+          bounding_box: '{"min_lat":40.6514712164,"max_lat":40.6737320588,"min_lon":-73.8967895508,"max_lon":-73.8665771484}'
+        }
+      ]
+    };
+
+    var expected = {
+      data: [
+        {
+          bounding_box: {
+            min_lat: 40.6514712164,
+            max_lat: 40.6737320588,
+            min_lon: -73.8967895508,
+            max_lon: -73.8665771484
+          }
+        }
+      ]
+    };
+
+    parseBBox({}, res, function () {
+      t.deepEquals(res, expected, 'correct bounding_box');
+      t.end();
+    });
+  });
+
+  test('invalid bounding_box json', function(t) {
+    var res = {
+      data: [
+        {
+          bounding_box: 'garbage json'
+        }
+      ]
+    };
+
+    var expected = {
+      data: [
+        {}
+      ]
+    };
+
+    parseBBox({}, res, function () {
+      t.deepEquals(res, expected, 'correct bounding_box');
+      t.end();
+    });
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.all = function (tape, common) {
+
+  function test(name, testFunction) {
+    return tape('[middleware] parseBBox: ' + name, testFunction);
+  }
+
+  for( var testCase in module.exports.tests ){
+    module.exports.tests[testCase](test, common);
+  }
+};
diff --git a/test/unit/run.js b/test/unit/run.js
index de13bbe0..0ce25e7d 100644
--- a/test/unit/run.js
+++ b/test/unit/run.js
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ var tests = [
   require('./middleware/distance'),
   require('./middleware/localNamingConventions'),
   require('./middleware/dedupe'),
+  require('./middleware/parseBBox'),
   require('./query/autocomplete'),
   require('./query/autocomplete_defaults'),
   require('./query/search_defaults'),