Mayor Eric Adams is proposing to update decades old zoning rules for new housing to be allowed in parts of Midtown Manhattan. The new zoning will include a 42 block area from 23rd Street to 40th Street and from Fifth Avenue to Eighth Avenue. Currently zoned and designed for manufacturing use, this proposal lines up with another of the mayor’s proposals to facilitate and expedite office to housing conversions in all NYC boroughs as we continue to face a housing crisis.
The Midtown South Neighborhood Plan would update zoning rules to literally transform four areas in Midtown South into a vibrant, live/work community with affordable housing and good jobs. This plan would boost economic growth, support local businesses, and create jobs.
To facilitate office to residential conversions citywide the mayor said “zoning changes would allow office buildings constructed before 1990 to convert to housing. The current cutoff is 1961 or 1977 depending on the area”. Doing this would free up 136 million square feet of office space across the city to become apartments, however the decision remains with the property owner.
According to Maria Torres-Springer, Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development and Workforce “Ir makes no sense to allow office buildings to sit empty while New Yorkers struggle to find housing. By enabling office conversions, New York will reinvigorate it's business districts and deliver new homes near jobs and transit”.
Mayor Adams has launched the new Office Conversion Accelerator Program led by experts from the city's Department of Buildings, Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the Board of Standards and Appeals and the Landmarks Preservation Commission to help building owners complete complex conversion projects.
Adams says “Well, it's time to get out of the way so we can turn these office cubicles into nice living quarters so we can address the housing crisis we have”.
To be continued...
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