The MTA is taking offers for more than 300,000 square feet of development rights in Lower Manhattan.
The agency released a request for proposals Friday, seeking a buyer of up to 350,000 square feet of landmarked air rights tied to the Fulton Center.
The transit center shares a zoning lot with the Corbin Building, a terra cotta-clad office building built in 1889, which was landmarked in 2015. Together, the two buildings are underbuilt on the lot by 358,000 square feet, of which the agency is keeping 8,000 for “future flexibility,” according to the RFP.
The potential pool of buyers will be limited to those who can acquire the rights through a City Planning Commission certification or through a zoning lot merger with an adjacent site. The RFP specifies that it will not accept offers from buyers whose plans would require a special permit or other land-use approval.
More potential buyers, however, are eligible thanks to the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity. The text amendment eased the rules around where landmarked air rights can be transferred and freed many of these deals from the special permit process. Because of those changes, the square footage can be applied to sites across the street and within the same block of the Fulton Center, without triggering the need for a special permit, as long as such a deal doesn’t increase the allowable square footage of the receiving site by more than 30 percent.
Transfers resulting in larger projects still require a special permit and, therefore, must go through the city’s land-use review process.
Air rights transfers have been on the rise since the passage of City of Yes. The Real Deal previously reported that landmarked development rights have been trading for between $180 and 400 per square foot.
Bidders on the Fulton air rights must offer at least fair market value (as determined by the MTA’s independent appraiser) to be considered. The RFP is due March 16, 2026.
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