HPD Releases 485x Registrations

23 May 2025

Developers of a potential 2,600 housing units plan to apply for the property tax break 485x. They also plan to avoid a minimum construction wage requirement.

That is according to registrations collected by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development as of May 1. Developers are required to register with HPD to signal their intention of filing an application for the incentive. Actually applying for 485x doesn’t happen until the construction is completed.

All of the projects, across 118 buildings, are expected to have fewer than 100 units, meaning that they avoid a $40 per hour construction wage floor that kicks in at that threshold. Under 485x, developers citywide must pay that minimum wage for projects with 100 or more units. Even higher wages kick in for larger projects in certain areas of the city.

Create an account to continue

Of the projected units, 540 will be income-restricted, with most projects abiding by a 485x option that requires units to be affordable, on average, to those earning 80 percent of the area median income.

Developers of three projects told HPD they expect to build 99 housing units, and in each of those cases, previous plans called for slightly more than 100 apartments. Twin Group Associates filed plans in 2023 for a 101-apartment project at 150 Lawrence Street in Brooklyn. That same year, the owner of 3556 Holland Avenue in the Bronx filed permits to build 106 units, New York Yimby reported at the time. Previous reports also indicate 101 units were planned for 151 South Elliott Place in Brooklyn. Now, all three have been redrawn to exactly 99 units.

As TRD has previously reported, developers have scaled back their projects or considered subdividing lots to build separate 99-unit projects to avoid the wage requirements. A new report by the Real Estate Board of New York found that the volume of permit applications filed for projects with between 50 and 99 units spiked in the first quarter of 2025, totaling 2,606 units, which is more than twice the average seen since 2008.

The registration data further underscores that developers seeking 485x, at least so far, are shifting to smaller projects that can sidestep the wage threshold. A spokesperson for HPD noted that it is not unusual for projects to change plans and number of units multiple times before receiving final approval.

HPD opened registration for 485x in June 2024. In a press release, the Adams administration framed the tax break as helping build “a little more housing in every neighborhood,” phrasing also used by city officials when describing the goal of zoning changes under the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity.

“With 118 buildings representing roughly 2,600 new homes already showing intent to use to program in just ten months of operation, 485-x is proving to be the tax incentive we needed to keep producing more affordable housing,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.

HPD Acting Commissioner Ahmed Tigani said that while it is “still too early to draw definitive conclusions from the data,” the agency is “heartened by the early results.”