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Landowners in the Big Apple are on track to hand over the most development rights in about a decade.
An analysis by PropertyScout found that 54 transfers of development rights have occurred in New York City as of Aug. 1. That means the city is likely to see 92 such transfers — which include Zoning Lot Development Agreements, special district transfers and landmark development rights transfers — for the full year.
This is the highest amount since 2016, which saw 98 such transfers, according to data from the property data firm. The peak total is expected after the City Planning Commission relaxed the regulations surrounding the transfer of development rights for landmarked properties, CEO Wilson Parry said in a LinkedIn post.
New York witnessed two general peak periods over the previous 20 years that experienced greater rights transfers, per PropertyScout’s analysis. The first was from 2005 to 2007, and the second was from 2013 to 2016. During both of those times, land prices in New York were up, along with new building applications.
Over the past two decades, the year that saw the most development rights transfers recorded — 134 of them — was 2015, followed by 128 in 2007. The year with the fewest transfers recorded was 2010, with 30.
New York City developers have struggled to put deals together this year compared to recent history because of stubbornly high interest rates, rising labor and materials costs and a consistent big-ask spread. Some of the city’s top developers are also organizing against Zohran Mamdani, the city’s mayoral Democratic nominee and race frontrunner.
Midtown South is slated to see roughly 9,500 new apartments come online over the next decade, thanks to a new 42-block rezoning of the area. About 2,800 of the new apartments would be set aside as affordable.