NYC plan to convert obsolete office buildings into residential units would solve dual crisis — but City Council stands in the way
NY Post
New measures are in the works to solve the city’s housing and office crises — but they depend on whether Mayor Eric Adams has what it takes to push them through the obstructionist City Council.
The housing-starved city will need 473,000 new apartments by 2032, according to the Regional Plan Association, but only 11,000 new ones were built last year – compared to 45,000 in 2022. At the same time, office vacancies are at a record 20%, mostly in older, undesirable buildings.
Transforming the obsolete office buildings into residential units has become the proposed elixir – especially on the heels of Chicago’s highly-publicized plan to give landlords generous subsidies to convert four vacant downtown buildings.
However, piecemeal, location-specific programs like those in the Windy City won’t make a dent in the Big Apple, a policy expert told The Post.
“It’s apples and watermelons,” the source told The Post. “New York’s office market is more than twice as big as Chicago’s and has literally thousands of buildings in trouble, not just a few.”
The biggest obstacle to residential conversion in New York isn’t the cost — several such projects costing more than a half-billion dollars are ongoing such as at 25 Water St. — but archaic zoning rules that severely limit the areas and numbers of buildings eligible for conversion.
