SoHo/NoHo spotlight: few new projects as potential rezoning vote approaches

By Atticus O’Brien-Pappalardo

SoHo and NoHo have been among the least active neighborhoods in Manhattan for new development over the last five years, according to a PincusCo analysis of new building plans filed in the city since the start of 2017. The lack of development is due to manufacturing zoning which has been in place since the early 1970s that does not allow residential use development (Use Group 2) as of-right without a series of approvals. For new construction which is approved by the City Planning Commission the Board of Standards and Appeals, a minimum unit size of 1,200 square feet is required by the M1-5A and M1-5B zoning.

However, a Department of City Planning rezoning project, proposed last year, which seeks to rezone an approximately 56-block, 146-acre area of the SoHo and NoHo neighborhoods of Manhattan Community District 2 is slated to be voted on by City Council early next week. If the rezoning is approved it could lead to a flood of new development, including roughly 3,200 new dwelling units in the area.

Since the start of 2017, there have been four new buildings filed in SoHo and one new building filed in NoHo. The SoHo plans totaled to call for the construction of 13 dwelling units, while the NoHo plan called for no dwelling units. The largest plans called for the construction of nine dwelling units at 182 Spring Street.

PincucCo looked at all new building plans which called for the construction of buildings that would be 2,000-square-feet in size or larger. For the dwelling unit analysis, PincusCo did not include hotel buildings (R-1) or plans which called for buildings with less than four dwelling units.

The Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn has recently seen a massive jump in development plans which stemmed from a similarly massive rezoning plan which just passed City Council. The rezoning allows the construction of mixed-use development in the area, which was previously primarily zoned for manufacturing. There have been 19 new building plans filed in Gowanus this year, with the majority being filed in November. The plans combined call for the construction of 3,150 new dwelling units in the neighborhood.