FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 17, 2023
This morning, the Building Congress attended the press conference where Mayor Adams and Department of City Planning Director Dan Garodnick unveiled new proposals to convert vacant offices to housing. The plan includes 3 key zoning changes, which include:
- Updating the eligibility so that buildings built before 1990 can convert to housing.
- Expanding where offices and other non-residential buildings can convert to housing anywhere in the city where housing is permitted under zoning.
- Enabling conversions to a wider variety of housing types, including supportive, shared and dorms.
The Adams administration also launched a new Office Conversions Accelerator to work with office building owners to advance conversion opportunities, and the Midtown South Mixed-Use Neighborhood Plan, which will enable new housing, including permanently affordable housing, in four areas that were designated for manufacturing a half-century ago. The plan will foster a 24/7, live-work, mixed-use neighborhood in the areas between 23rd street and 40th street from Fifth Ave to Eight Ave.
“Mayor Adams and his administration continue to show their commitment to solving our housing crisis and ensuring New York remains a vibrant and affordable place to live and work," said our President & CEO Carlo A. Scissura, Esq. "Now it's time for our partners in state government to follow suit by matching the year eligibility to 1990, eliminating the 12 FAR cap, creating a tax incentive program, and authorizing additional housing initiatives to keep this momentum going.”
Read more on the proposals here.
