The Real Estate Board of New York to The City Council on N240290ZRY, City of Yes for Housing Opportunity

Download the Testimony

The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) is the city’s leading trade association for real estate, representing commercial, residential, and institutional property owners, builders, managers, investors, brokers, salespeople, and other professionals engaged in New York City real estate. We are pleased to support the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity (N240290ZRY) citywide text amendment.

REBNY strongly supports the goals of Housing Opportunity, which marks one of the most significant updates to the zoning resolution since 1961. New York City is facing a housing crisis deepened by years of under production and evidenced by a 1.41% citywide vacancy rate. New York City has lagged behind rapidly growing cities like Orlando, Dallas, and Phoenix over the past decade in permitting housing units. While housing production remains anemic, rents continue to rise, and outdated zoning regulations hinder the construction of much needed homes to address this crisis.

The zoning reforms in City of Yes for Housing Opportunity are therefore essential to the city’s goal of producing 500,000 units over the next decade. REBNY especially supports key components of this proposal such as the expanded opportunities for office-to-residential conversions, increased density through the creation of R11 and R12 districts, and the introduction of a Universal Affordability Preference (UAP). The changes for office to residential conversions align with the recommendations by the City Council created Office Adaptive Reuse Taskforce. Additionally, these measures align with the recently adopted tax incentives 467-m and 485-x created through this year’s State Budget and have the potential to lead to the creation of thousands of affordable homes for New York City residents.

The changes embodied in this text amendment represent the next generation of zoning rules for the planning, design, and development of housing for New Yorkers. This proposal can ensure housing of all types and sizes are built and we ask that the City Council carefully consider any changes through the lens of whether those changes will protect, encourage and enhance the housing pipeline for the city. We look forward to collaborating with the Council on refinements to the proposal. Thank you for your consideration of these points.