Effective May 1st, you can no longer rent units in Class A multiple dwellings for less than 30 days, pursuant to a law passed last year to discourage transient uses in apartment buildings.
City Planning has proposed creating a new zoning district M1-6D to allow residential construction replacing offices in the garment district, but requiring an office replacement component if more than 50,000 sq. ft. of office are demolished. The test zone would only cover the blocks from 28th to 30th between 7th and 8th Avenues, to coincide with a development proposal from Edison Properties, but could be a model for the area.
The Building Congress reported that overall construction spending in New York City dropped 12% in 2010 (23% below 2007-8 levels) and residential construction fell from 34,000 units in 2008 to 6,100 in 2009 and 5,400 units last year.
Nevertheless, now that the State Budget is done, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is pledging to get “aggressive” on extending and expanding rent regulations, but offering no specifics.
Don’t forget to reserve a seat at ABO’s June 9th luncheon featuring HPD Commissioner Matthew Wambua.