City of Yes for Housing Opportunity Turns One

This Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the City Council approving City of Yes for Housing Opportunity. 

Time flies when you are…overhauling a zoning code that hasn’t been significantly changed since 1961?

The Council approved the text amendment last Dec. 5, which made several changes, including eliminating minimum parking mandates for new construction in parts of the city, legalizing accessory dwelling units, expanding the types of buildings eligible for office-to-residential conversions and creating new higher-density residential districts that can be mapped throughout the city. 

For a refresher, here’s a cheatsheet with details on the biggest changes. 

Since the City Council’s approval, the text amendment has survived a legal challenge (though the groups suing appealed the case’s dismissal), and voters have approved a set of other changes aimed at speeding up housing approvals. 

The full impact of these changes will not be known for some time, but we’ve already seen some results. Air rights transfers this year are on track to reach the highest level seen since 2016, according to PropertyScout. The City of Yes allowed owners of landmarked properties to sell their development rights to more properties. 

City Planning says that more than 12,000 homes resulting from office-to-residential conversions are in the pipeline, of which more than 3,000 are permanently affordable units. It’s unclear how many of these changes are the direct result of City of Yes, though.

City of Yes created two new residential zoning districts, known as R11 and R12. These districts, when mapped, respectively allow residential floor area ratios of 15 and 18. So far, the districts have been used in the Midtown South rezoning, but have been proposed at individual sites, including at 395 Flatbush Avenue Extension in Downtown Brooklyn and a site above the Second Avenue subway extension (which is coming up for a subcommittee and committee vote on Thursday).  

Friday also marks the end of a period in which projects were grandfathered in under certain rules that changed after City of Yes. For example, projects for which a permit application was filed before Dec. 5, 2024, and that the Department of Buildings approved before Dec. 5, 2025, can participate in the city’s Voluntary Inclusionary Housing (VIH) program, rather than the Universal Affordability Preference (UAP). 

City of Yes replaced the density bonus program VIH with UAP. The former provides a more generous density bump than UAP: VIH provides up to 3.5 square feet for every square foot of affordable space, while developers under UAP can only add as much space equal to the affordable square footage. The new program also requires deeper affordability. 

In other words, there was an incentive to ensure your project is eligible for VIH. 

The city released applications for UAP in April and opened applications for accessory dwelling units in September. 

As I’ve previously reported, developers are still figuring out how changes under City of Yes work with existing city programs and systems. It will be up to the next administration to oversee the continued rollout of the policies. 

What we’re thinking about: What do you think has been the biggest effect of City of Yes so far? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com. 

A thing we’ve learned: Airport lounges are in high demand. There are more than 3,500 airport lounges in the world, according to the New Yorker.

Elsewhere in New York…

— Nearly 100 bills hit Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk on Monday, meaning that she has until next Friday to act on the measures, City & State reports. Including the 93 bills on her desk, Hochul has some 250 measures to act on.

— Brrrrrr! Temperatures in the city are forecasted to be in the upper 20s and lower 30s on Friday, Gothamist reports. But, thanks to wind chill, it is going to feel like it is in the teens. Stay safe out there. 

Closing Time 

Residential: The top residential deal recorded Wednesday was $40 million for a 5,375-square-foot condominium unit at 443 Greenwich in Tribeca. Noble Black, Matthew B. Mackay and Cory Cahlon with Corcoran had the listing.

Commercial: The top commercial deal recorded was $133 million for 115 West 40th Street in Midtown. Clarion Partners sold the 304,345-square-foot, 22-floor office building to AM Property Holding Corp.

New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $36 million for an 8,800-square-foot condo at 445 Lafayette Street in Noho. Zack Sosne and Craig Roth with Next Stop NY have the listing.

Breaking Ground: The largest new building permit filed was for a proposed 94,348-square-foot, 17-story residential building at 515 West 43rd Street in Hell’s Kitchen. Manish Chadha with Ismael Leyva Architects filed the permit on behalf of City Builders. 

— Matthew Elo