Property values in the Bronx are lower than the median for New York City as a whole. Research has revealed that larger projects are better able to absorb the costs of delays, likely because the costs of the review process are not proportional to the size of the project. Units in properties that only used the 421-a tax exemption (without additional grants) usually followed the same trends as market-rate units, likely because they were often located in mixed-income properties. Over the past decade, new units built in multifamily properties were mainly situated near downtown Manhattan, likely due to high market demand and available zoning capacity. Before deciding if a project should be smaller than originally proposed or with different conditions, or if it will require negotiated additions or community benefits to gain political support, all costs must be taken into account.
The Historic Monuments Preservation Commission designates New York City's historic districts to preserve neighborhoods' historic character, promote tourism, and stabilize property values, among other objectives. Staten Island had the highest proportion of new units in small properties, followed by Queens (82% and 16%, respectively), while less than one percent of new units built in Manhattan were on such small properties. In Boston, of the 32 projects that were approved, it took an average of 223 days, or about 7 and a half months, to obtain ownership rights. We compared these finished properties with data from the New York City Department of Urban Planning (DCP) and Department of Finance (DOF) to identify characteristics of the property, such as location, size, and tax-exempt status. We also compared them with property-level data from the Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), and New York City Department of Urban Planning (DCP) to identify building characteristics like size and location.
New York City must create a process that evaluates proposals based on their potential benefits and their compliance with the goals of the strategic plan required by the Charter and other plans. If an Environmental Assessment Statement (EAS) determines that a project will have significant adverse impacts, then the DCP will issue a “positive” statement and require a more comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Rezoning initiated by the City creates new development capacity or modernizes zoning regulations in a larger area and is not tied to specific projects. We tracked newly-built multifamily homes using publicly available data from the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) on properties with four or more units that received their final certificate of occupancy. While this report focuses on units built in new multifamily properties over the past decade, units were also added to the inventory as part of small properties (1 to 3 units) and non-residential property conversions. The median time for abbreviated EAS projects was slightly longer than for projects that completed a full EAS form and received a negative or conditional negative statement; however, there was no significant difference between review times for short and complete forms. Some of these changes over time, especially for smaller projects that only require an EAS form, could be explained by these factors.
