Midtown South is officially getting a makeover.
City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved the Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan, which rezones 42 blocks in the Midtown neighborhood for housing development. The rezoning is expected to net 9,535 housing units, with 2,842 set aside as affordable, making it the city’s largest residential rezoning in 20 years.
“New Yorkers are facing a city-wide housing crisis,” said Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. “We must confront it by advancing housing solutions and creating more homes with a focus on affordability.”
The rezoning creates two new high-density residential districts that require Mandatory Inclusionary Housing and also allow for the construction of housing projects up to 15 and 18 times the size of their lots. This is the first time that these new districts have been used, after the state lifted the city’s long-standing cap on residential floor area ratio of 12.
“It’s really unlocking a pent-up demand for residential use, both new residential buildings and conversion of existing office buildings,” said Jeff Mulligan, Planning and Development Specialist at the law firm HSF Kramer.
The new districts were made possible by City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, Mayor Eric Adams’ rezoning initiative that passed last December, which enables greater residential density across the city. The units created through this Midtown rezoning are part of Eric Adams’ Manhattan Plan, which promises 100,000 new units in the borough over the next decade.
“This is what addressing the housing crisis means, actually producing huge amounts of affordable housing,” said local Council member Erik Bottcher.
The rezoning affects four separate areas of Midtown South, bounded by 40th Street to the north, Fifth Avenue to the east, 23rd Street to the south and Eighth Avenue to the west. The areas were previously zoned for manufacturing use, and either barred housing construction or limited it considerably.
It also includes $325 million in planned upgrades along 21 blocks of Broadway, including a car-free busway on 34th Street, and the Adams administration pledged $121.9 million for programs dedicated to helping decades-old garment businesses in the area.
“To get to a place where we can save and invest in the fashion industry, expand our transportation options, address the commercial vacancy crisis and address all the different hurdles, utilize new state allowances to build more density in places like Midtown, to me that is a success,” said Council member Keith Powers.
The approval comes after the City Council’s Land Use Committee and Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises tweaked the original proposal last week. The redevelopment will now net 9,535 housing units, with 2,842 affordable, down from the 9,676 units initially expected, of which 2,890 would be affordable.
Among other changes, City Council lowered the allowable residential density in a four-block area in the southeast section of the rezoning, between 23rd and 27th streets, reducing the maximum FAR from 18 to 15. It also scrapped a proposed high-density residential designation for a midblock stretch between West 36th and 40th streets, from Seventh to Eighth avenues, following concern from local businesses in the garment district that they would be forced out to make way for new development.
The success of this rezoning initiative is a major win for City of Yes, and may help pave the way for future rezonings in other high-density areas. The proposal now goes to the Mayor’s office for final review and approval.
Read more
City Council tweaks Midtown South rezoning, reduces housing estimates
Here are the changes that got City of Yes approved
The mayor’s numbers games: Breaking down Eric Adams’ housing goals