Hoping to usher changes to decades-old state law restricting the conversion of vacant, unused office spaces into residential housing units, the 5 Borough Housing Movement’s push for these conversions gained more political support this week.
John Sanchez, executive director of the 5 Borough Housing Movement, says changes are needed at the state level to help streamline the commercial-to-residential turnover, including a change to state law that allows such conversions, lifting a floor area ratio cap that limits the density of NYC-based construction and providing a tax incentive to encourage converted buildings to include affordable housing units.
After three Bronx community boards voiced support for the office-to-residential movement last week, a swath of New York politicos, including U.S.Reps. Ritchie Torres and Adriano Espaillat, have followed suit on Wednesday.
“New York is confronting the greatest affordability crisis since the Great Depression,” said Torres, whose congressional district encompasses the South Bronx and areas in the northwest corner of the borough. “The need for a dramatically expanded housing supply to overcome both housing insecurity and homelessness has never been more urgent. I commend Governor Hochul for putting housing where it belongs in the state budget: front and center.”
U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks, of Queens, and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine have also thrown their support behind the movement as well. Advocates of office-to-residential conversion say that these conversions can bring about more housing, without the side effects of displacement and gentrification that new development can bring.
While most of the large-scale conversion of commercial buildings to residential use would be implemented in Manhattan, there is significant opportunities for these conversations in The Hub, the Bronx’s commercial corridor, and downtown Flushing in Queens.
In December, Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a plan to…
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