New York City Announces Proposals to Encourage Conversion of Offices to Housing

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Department of City Planning Director Dan Garodnick, along with other public officials, have announced three initiatives to spur the conversion of vacant office buildings into housing. 

The first initiative is part of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity and is intended to ease regulations that govern the adaptive reuse of office buildings. The proposal, which will be the subject of public engagement this fall and formal public review (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP)) in 2024, will build on proposals from January’s NYC Office Adaptive Reuse Study. Among other changes, the text amendment will allow the more liberal conversion regulations currently applicable to buildings constructed prior to 1961 in the area south of 59th Street in Manhattan (prior to 1977 in the Financial District) and in a limited number of community boards in Brooklyn and Queens to apply to buildings built as late as Dec. 31, 1990, and will expand its scope to other neighborhoods in the city. The text amendment will also extend those regulations to a wider variety of housing types, including supportive housing, communal housing models and dormitories.

The second initiative is the Midtown South Neighborhood Plan, a proposal to rezone a 42-block area that is currently zoned for manufacturing. The general boundaries of the area are West 40th Street to the north, West 23rd Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the east and Eighth Avenue to the west. Public engagement will start this fall, and the rezoning proposal is expected to enter ULURP in 2024.

The third initiative is the launch of a new Office Conversion Accelerator team. Comprised of experts from across city government, the team will work with building owners to advance conversion opportunities for buildings that have the capacity to produce 50 or more dwelling units. Assistance will include analyzing the feasibility of individual projects and helping secure necessary permits.

We will continue to monitor these proposals and provide updates. Please contact Kramer Levin’s Land Use Department if you have any questions about these proposals.