City of Yes, a cheat sheet.
The City Council on Thursday will vote on the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, a 1,300-plus page text amendment that is projected to add 80,000 apartments to the city over the next 15 years.
Here’s a comparatively brief and (I hope) clear breakdown of some of its most important and interesting elements:
Parking requirements
The original proposal would have eliminated parking minimums citywide for new construction. Areas of Manhattan south of 96th Street are already exempt from such requirements. In other parts of the city, a certain number of parking spots are required based on unit count and location.
The version being voted on Thursday creates three zones: One where parking restrictions remain largely intact, another where minimums are reduced and one where they are erased. A map of the zones can be found here.
Accessory dwelling units
Such units will be legalized under City of Yes, but with restrictions. Only one such unit is permitted for each house, and only on lots with one- or two-family homes. They cannot be bigger than 33 percent of a rear yard, more than 800 square feet or higher than one story, unless parking is permitted on the first floor.
Ground floor and basement ADUs are barred in coastal flooding areas or inland areas prone to flooding. Detached and backyard ADUs are also not allowed in historic districts nor in R1A, R2A and R3A (low-density contextual) zoning districts, unless those areas are also located in the “Greater Transit Zone.”
Transit-oriented and town center development
The transit-oriented development provision allows apartment buildings of three to five stories in low-density residential districts near transit. For such projects with 50 or more units, at least 20 percent of housing must be permanently set aside for applicants earning 80 percent of the area median income.
The same affordability requirements apply to so-called town center developments, where two to four stories can be added above commercial space in low-density districts. Such developments are barred from blocks with commercial overlays that are full of mostly single- and two-family homes.
FAR cap
After years of false starts, state lawmakers finally lifted the city’s cap on residential density as part of this year’s state budget, enabling the city to create two new residential zoning district designations: R11 and R12. Areas zoned R11 and R12 would, respectively, permit construction of residential buildings 15 or 18 times larger than their lot size (an FAR of 15 or 18).
City of Yes simply allows R11 and R12 to be mapped. Areas must still be rezoned to enable construction of residential projects of this size. The Adams administration has indicated that it wants to do so in Midtown South.
Universal Affordability Preference
This replaces the city’s Voluntary Inclusionary Housing program, and unlike its predecessor, will be available citywide. UAP provides a 20 percent density bonus to projects if all of the extra space is dedicated to permanently affordable housing. The affordable units must, on average, be affordable to those earning 60 percent of the area median income. In projects where with at least 20 percent of those units affordable to residents earning 40 percent of the AMI.
The initial version of UAP phased out an option for developers to build required affordable units offsite, but the City Council will continue to allow that choice in high-density residential districts (R-10), some special districts, and designated inclusionary housing areas. The density bump for offsite affordable housing is not as generous under UAP as under VIH, which provided up to 3.5 square feet of bonus for every square foot of affordable space. The ratio under UAP is 1:1.
MIH
Currently, the City Council can apply Mandatory Inclusionary Housing options 1, 2 or both to a neighborhood or site rezoning. Developers can also apply for workforce or “deep affordability” options, or both. These last two, however, are only on the table if options 1 or 2 are also available.
City of Yes changes that. It allows the Council to make “deep affordability” its own thing. Meaning that for a rezoning, the Council can mandate that developers set aside 20 percent of a project’s units for households making an average of 40 percent of the area median income, with income bands capped at 130 percent AMI.
Office-to-residential conversions
Today, office buildings constructed after 1961 generally cannot be converted into residential space, except in Lower Manhattan, where the cut-off date is 1977. City of Yes changes that threshold to 1990 citywide. That will make many buildings between 35 and 64 years old eligible for conversion.
Sliver law and air rights
I saved the wonkiest for last. City of Yes spares some parcels from the so-called sliver law, which has long restricted the height of buildings on lots less than 45 feet wide. The law will still apply to narrow lots in high-density districts, when a developer builds according to height factor rules (which can result in very tall and skinny buildings on small lots).
Unrelated, but also wonky: The original proposal sought to make it easier for landmarked buildings to sell their air rights by allowing these rights to be transferred to more sites on the same block as the landmarked property or across the street from that block, rather than just those adjacent to the landmark. That change survived the Council’s tinkering.
But the initial plan also called for letting City Planning certify such sales, rather than force sellers to get a special permit. The City Council was not keen on fully repealing that requirement. Transfers that would increase the height of a project by more than 25 percent would still require special permits, which go through the city’s land use review process.
What we’re thinking about: What will happen to the Helmsley Building? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: Some of the biggest names in the Persian Jewish real estate community regularly take the 9:18 Long Island Rail Road train together from Great Neck to Penn Station, Elizabeth Cryan reports.
Elsewhere in New York…
— Police are looking for the person who shot and killed Brian Thompson, chief executive of Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare, outside the Midtown Hilton on Wednesday morning, the New York Times reports. The NYPD, which released a suspect’s photo, called the shooting a “brazen targeted attack.”
— The Department of Transportation has completed new bus lanes and pedestrian safety upgrades on 96th Street between Second and West End avenues, Gothamist reports. The work is one of 37 projects that the agency is rolling out ahead of congestion pricing going live next month.
— Mayor Eric Adams could lose out on millions of dollars in public matching funds in his bid for re-election, the City reports. During a City Council hearing on Wednesday, Campaign Finance Board director Paul Ryan indicated that the board will vote next week on the first set of public funds disbursed for the 2025 race. The board could also deem a candidate ineligible for public matching funds. Ryan didn’t name Adams, who has been charged with abusing the program.
“There will be some judgment calls made by the board when making public funding determinations,” Ryan said.
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Wednesday was $22.8 million for a 5,210-square-foot condo unit at 500 West 18th Street in Chelsea. Deborah Kern and Steve Gold of the Corcoran Group had the listing.
Commercial: The largest commercial sale of the day was $10.2 million for an 11,475-square-foot commercial property at 42 East Broadway in Chinatown.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $54 million for a 6,942-square-foot condo at 50 West 66th Street in Lincoln Square. Janice Chang and Timothy Hsu of Douglas Elliman have the listing.
— Matthew Elo