Garment District rezoning on track for approval this year

Rezoning of the Garment District is on track to be approved by the end of the year.

The city’s plan to allow more commercial space has a smooth path toward being greenlit, Crain’s reported. The plan would remove an old rule that has required certain building owners in the area to dedicate half their floor area for manufacturing.

The community board held its first hearing on the issue last month — and will hold on to the application until passing it off to the City Planning Commission in late August, the report said. The City Council will likely grant approval before year-end, partly because Council Speaker Corey Johnson was involved in the plan.

Meanwhile, the city’s Economic Development Corp. hopes to preserve more than 300,000 square feet of garment manufacturing by offering landlords a tax credit, the report said. And the city has pledged to dedicate as much as $20 million to acquire a building for manufacturing use.

Last month, the city proposed revised plans after a previous proposal was temporarily tabled. The latest plan allows owners of buildings on certain side streets to convert their spaces to office use without having to preserve manufacturing space. [Crain’s] — Meenal Vamburkar