City Planning Doubles Expected Housing Yield from Midtown South Rezoning

New York Department of City Planning (DCP) is going double on the latest version of a plan to add thousands of apartments to Midtown South’s skyline.

DCP Director Dan Garodnick released an updated draft of the “Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan” that could usher in 9,700 new housing units, more than double the 4,000 apartments targeted in the original plan, DCP announced Thursday.

The updated plan lifts the allowable floor area ratio (FAR) — a calculation of the amount of space that can be built vertically in relation to the size of the lot on which the building stands —  to either 15 or 18 across 42 Manhattan blocks where housing is not allowed by current zoning. The current FAR cap around the city is set to 12, and has been that way for decades, but a new state law would allow the city to boost that up to 18 in places.

Up to 2,800 permanently affordable apartments could result from developers seizing on the opportunity of the new Midtown South zoning plan through mandatory inclusionary housing, according to DCP estimates. News website The City first reported that there would be a revised plan.

“Midtown South is one of the most transit- and job-rich areas of the city, but it’s long been held back by antiquated zoning that has restricted new housing,” Garodnick said in a statement. “With action in Albany, we’re moving quickly to put new zoning tools to work to deliver more of the homes that New Yorkers urgently need, while fostering a vibrant mix of commercial, manufacturing and residential uses.”

The plan updates the FAR cap mainly to 18, with some areas limited to 15, for four sections of Midtown between 23rd and 40th streets and Fifth and Eighth avenues. Those could be changed into high-density, mixed-use zoning districts zoned R11 and R12 along with M1-8A and M1-9A districts, which will allow for light manufacturing, office and retail use.

The latter two zoning districts will allow FARs of 12 as opposed to the current 10.

The announcement comes as the New York City Council analyzes Mayor Eric Adams’s City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, which was formally endorsed by the City Planning Commission in late September, just hours before Adams was indicted on five counts of alleged corruption.

City Council ran the City of Yes through the wringer with two days of hearings last week, with organizations voicing support for the zoning changes despite the ongoing federal investigation against Adams and several of his officials.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.