DOB multifamily filings surge to nearly 12K units in March, highest in 12 years: PincusCo

Developers submitted new building and major alteration multifamily plans with the city’s Department of Buildings for 11,984 apartment units in New York City last month, the highest number in 12 years, a PincusCo analysis of DOB filings shows.

The exact number of units planned in prior years is difficult to ascertain because some plans are filed with fewer units than are later built, some plans are abandoned and filed again, and others abandoned entirely, so the historic count is not precise.
However, using unvetted figures for the past 20 years of the city’s initial job applications, the total number filed in March is the second-highest in that period, according to the PincusCo analysis.

The prior top month was September 2014 when there was a total of 13,189 units filed, including 11,900 units through 220 new building applications and 1,289 units through 15 conversion projects.

In March, developers filed plans for 11,189 units in 137 new building applications and filed plans for 795 net new units in 14 conversion plans.

The largest new building applications were Moinian Group’s 1,458-unit development with the address 548 West 36th Street in Hudson Yards and Vornado Realty Trust’s 481-unit project at 484 Eighth Avenue in Garment District. (Moinian Group also filed a 300-unit project next doo in Hudson Yards, at 550 West 36th Street.)

Development

David Linehan, pre-development and development manager of Moinian Group submitted a new building construction project for a 1,458-unit, 954,989 square-foot residential (R-2) building at 548 West 36 Street. The plan was filed on March 26, 2026. It calls for the construction of a 768-foot tall, 70-story building and was filed with the New York City Department of Buildings under job number M01360100. The architect is Fxcollaborative Architects Llp. The project is described in the filing as: project accepted to development hub per consultation on 3/20/26. application is for the construction of a 70-story mixed use building building.

Over the past five years, there has been no NYC Department of Buildings new building, demolition, or alteration permit application valued at more than $20,000 filed for this parcel.

The neighborhood

In Hudson Yards, The majority, or 59 percent of the 16.8 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 22 percent of the space. In sales, Hudson Yards has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $725.9 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 16th highest in Manhattan. For development, Hudson Yards has near average amount of major developments among other neighborhoods and is the 18th highest in Manhattan. It had 2.2 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 13 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of six of the nine commercial properties representing 555,773 square feet of the 555,773 square feet. The largest owner is Atria Senior Living, followed by Oxford Properties Group and then Related Companies. On the tax block, there were four new building construction projects totaling 2,149,247 square feet. The largest is a 1,458-unit, 954,989 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by Moinian Group and filed by David Linehan with plans filed March 26, 2026 and it has not been permitted yet. The second largest is a 565,049 square-foot business (B) building submitted by Related Companies and filed by Jonathan Etra with plans filed October 21, 2022 and permitted February 12, 2026.

The surrounding

Within a 400-foot radius of 546 West 36 Street, PincusCo identified six commercial real estate items of interests occurred over the past 24 months. Of those six items, one was in new building development. It was a new building permit application filed on March 26, 2026 for a 214,895-square-foot residential (R-2) building with 300 residential units at 550 West 36th Street. Of those six items, three were sales above $5 million totaling $545.1 million. The most recent of the three was Related Companies which bought the zero-square-foot industrial (Z9) on 514 West 36th Street for $38.8 million from Related Companies on January 5, 2026. Of those six items, two were loans above $5 million totaling $808.4 million. The most recent of the two was Related Companies, Oxford Properties Group, and Kuwait Investment Authority in which borrowed $700.4 million from Wells Fargo secured by the zero-square-foot industrial (Z9) on 514 West 36th Street on January 5, 2026.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.