New York City’s development pipeline is springing more leaks, especially when it comes to larger projects.
Developers filed permits to build 4,046 units in the fourth quarter, Crain’s reported. The data comes courtesy of the Real Estate Board of New York, which pulled intel from the Department of Buildings.
The unit volume was down by a little more than 100 units from the previous quarter. It also represented a 16 percent deficit compared to the historical average, according to REBNY.
Mayor Eric Adams’ stated goal is the construction of 500,000 homes by 2033, which would require building roughly 12,000 units quarterly; the total filings for multifamily housing last year — properties of at least four units — barely hit that quarter benchmark when considering the entire 12-month period.
The muted filings were particularly noticeable when analyzing plans for properties of at least 100 units. There were only nine such buildings planned in the fourth quarter, the fourth consecutive quarter that had less than ten permit filings for properties with 100-plus units.
Multifamily development collapsed upon the 2022 expiration of the 421a tax break. The subsidy helped developers pencil out projects in exchange for a level of affordable housing within developments. No replacement for the tax break has emerged.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has pitched a replacement known as 485W and tried to extend a key deadline for 421a, both efforts ultimately falling short. The governor is pushing for developers to come together with the trade associations to chart a path forward.
“Without policies in place to spur greater rental housing construction, one cannot expect this problem to fix itself,” REBNY executive Zachary Steinberg said in a statement.
The largest project filings by unit in the fourth quarter included Samaritan Dayton’s 26-story, 420-unit, all-affordable development in the Bronx’s Highbridge neighborhood; L+M Development Partners’ 425-unit development in Brooklyn’s East New York neighborhood; and SK Development’s 86-unit project in Manhattan’s Turtle Bay.
— Holden Walter-Warner