6 ms·

If a few thousand airbnb units cost renters that much money, imagine how much renters would save if more and taller buildings were allowed to be built!

icebraining 8y ago
Does NYC impose heavy restrictions on the height of buildings? I've never been there, but they seem tall to me.
- travisp 8y ago
  Yes, much of the city is limited to four or five stories or otherwise restricted [1]. Keep in mind also that much of NYC is not just the financial district of Manhattan. In addition to actual height restrictions, neighborhood associations also fight tooth and nail to prevent new development and to limit the height of new development when they can't. [1] https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/zoning/districts-tools/residence-districts-r1-r10.page https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/zoning/districts-tools/re...
  - ch4s3 8y ago
    Yeah, my neighborhood in Brooklyn is mostly 2 to 3 story building. Many of them were multi-family homes until the 1980's, and are now single family homes.
- ch4s3 8y ago
  There are height caps based on FAR(floor area ratio) that vary by zoning. The super talls are quite new and due to some changes to FAR restriction and trading of air rights.
- cimmanom 8y ago
  Not heavy restrictions. There are a few historic districts (read: well-off NIMBYs) such as Park Slope where height is strictly capped. In Manhattan the caps are generally designed to ensure that at least some light and air still reaches the street (before they were imposed, buildings were build to their full height to the edges of lots, and contributed to the city being very dark. Much of Manhattan is actually somewhat low-rise (3-5 stories). In those areas, developers can buy "air rights" from neighboring low-rise buildings if they want to build taller on a nearby lot.
- busterarm 8y ago
  Accidentally, in most cases. It's the parking requirements that do it. For every X number of units, you need to guarantee Y parking spaces. Building more parking lots is poor real estate utilization and underground parking is prohibitively expensive. This is why developers build hotels instead of housing when the neighborhood can't absorb more parking (which is nearly always).
Androider 8y ago
There's already a major building boom going on in NYC at the moment! 11+ super-talls (300m+) and 40+ talls (150m+) are under construction at the moment, and more than that has been completed in just the last few years. Massive amounts of rental units and co-ops are coming online in UWS (Riverside Center), Hudson Yards in Mid-Town etc [1]. And prices have come noticeably down as a result, you can also get more concessions than ever. I just recently received 3.5 months free on a 14 month contract in a brand new building. [1] https://ny.curbed.com/maps/nyc-new-development-hudson-yards-wtc-megaprojects https://ny.curbed.com/maps/nyc-new-development-hudson-yards-...
- free652 8y ago
  I dont think the prices have come down at all, they may have flatten out. Most of the new units are high end, 4k for 1bed?
  - Androider 8y ago
    Median rent was down ~4% in 2017 [1], some areas like UWS, Hell's Kitchen, LIC are down ~10%. Those are also incidentally the places with the most new construction. The whole Hunter's Point area in LIC has been completely transformed in just a few years from industrial to residental. 3K in Hunter's Point will now get you a new construction with all the bells and whistles and a few free months. https://ny.curbed.com/2018/1/24/16925172/nyc-rent-2017-decrease-2016 https://ny.curbed.com/2018/1/24/16925172/nyc-rent-2017-decre...
cimmanom 8y ago
Indeed, we should be increasing housing supply further. But even at a record breaking construction pace, we're building <20K units annually (that's 50 400-unit buildings) while population is increasing by >100K annually. And that doesn't even include the people who would move here if it were less unaffordable.
busterarm 8y ago
Zoning laws can only control what developers choose to build so much. If you look at the rezoned mixed use districts like the garment & flower district and the lower east side, they've been flooded with hotel development (in some cases clusters of hotels on the same block) because it's more profitable.

icebraining 8y ago

Does NYC impose heavy restrictions on the height of buildings? I've never been there, but they seem tall to me.

travisp 8y ago
Yes, much of the city is limited to four or five stories or otherwise restricted [1]. Keep in mind also that much of NYC is not just the financial district of Manhattan. In addition to actual height restrictions, neighborhood associations also fight tooth and nail to prevent new development and to limit the height of new development when they can't. [1] https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/zoning/districts-tools/residence-districts-r1-r10.page https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/zoning/districts-tools/re...
- ch4s3 8y ago
  Yeah, my neighborhood in Brooklyn is mostly 2 to 3 story building. Many of them were multi-family homes until the 1980's, and are now single family homes.
ch4s3 8y ago
There are height caps based on FAR(floor area ratio) that vary by zoning. The super talls are quite new and due to some changes to FAR restriction and trading of air rights.
cimmanom 8y ago
Not heavy restrictions. There are a few historic districts (read: well-off NIMBYs) such as Park Slope where height is strictly capped. In Manhattan the caps are generally designed to ensure that at least some light and air still reaches the street (before they were imposed, buildings were build to their full height to the edges of lots, and contributed to the city being very dark. Much of Manhattan is actually somewhat low-rise (3-5 stories). In those areas, developers can buy "air rights" from neighboring low-rise buildings if they want to build taller on a nearby lot.
busterarm 8y ago
Accidentally, in most cases. It's the parking requirements that do it. For every X number of units, you need to guarantee Y parking spaces. Building more parking lots is poor real estate utilization and underground parking is prohibitively expensive. This is why developers build hotels instead of housing when the neighborhood can't absorb more parking (which is nearly always).

Androider 8y ago

There's already a major building boom going on in NYC at the moment! 11+ super-talls (300m+) and 40+ talls (150m+) are under construction at the moment, and more than that has been completed in just the last few years. Massive amounts of rental units and co-ops are coming online in UWS (Riverside Center), Hudson Yards in Mid-Town etc [1]. And prices have come noticeably down as a result, you can also get more concessions than ever. I just recently received 3.5 months free on a 14 month contract in a brand new building. [1] https://ny.curbed.com/maps/nyc-new-development-hudson-yards-wtc-megaprojects https://ny.curbed.com/maps/nyc-new-development-hudson-yards-...

free652 8y ago
I dont think the prices have come down at all, they may have flatten out. Most of the new units are high end, 4k for 1bed?
- Androider 8y ago
  Median rent was down ~4% in 2017 [1], some areas like UWS, Hell's Kitchen, LIC are down ~10%. Those are also incidentally the places with the most new construction. The whole Hunter's Point area in LIC has been completely transformed in just a few years from industrial to residental. 3K in Hunter's Point will now get you a new construction with all the bells and whistles and a few free months. https://ny.curbed.com/2018/1/24/16925172/nyc-rent-2017-decrease-2016 https://ny.curbed.com/2018/1/24/16925172/nyc-rent-2017-decre...

cimmanom 8y ago

Indeed, we should be increasing housing supply further. But even at a record breaking construction pace, we're building <20K units annually (that's 50 400-unit buildings) while population is increasing by >100K annually. And that doesn't even include the people who would move here if it were less unaffordable.

busterarm 8y ago

Zoning laws can only control what developers choose to build so much. If you look at the rezoned mixed use districts like the garment & flower district and the lower east side, they've been flooded with hotel development (in some cases clusters of hotels on the same block) because it's more profitable.