City to unveil revised plan for rezoning in Garment District

Nearly a year after tabling plans to rezone the Garment District, city officials are poised to introduce a revised version of the proposal.

The new plan, which is expected to be announced in the next few days, would lift a 1987 zoning restriction on certain side streets in the Garment District rather than the entire neighborhood, the Wall Street Journal reported. Under the old zoning, landlords looking to convert manufacturing space into offices must maintain a 1:1 ratio, meaning that as much garment manufacturing space is maintained in the building as office space.

The city would also help keep the garment industry in the neighborhood by spending up to $20 million to acquire a building for manufacturing use and offering tax breaks to landlords who set aside at least 25,000 square feet for manufacturers.

“I don’t view this as a win for the real-estate industry,” said James Patchett, chief executive of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. “It was a win for the garment industry because we have been watching for …the last few decades the decline of the garment industry in New York.”

The new proposal seems to have the backing of the industry and officials who were critical of the previous plan, which some argued didn’t do enough to protect the garment industry. [WSJ] — Kathryn Brenzel