Because multifamily housing is only 11 percent of the nation’s housing stock, it’s hard to tell from the StorageCafe chart below that multifamily units increased 54 percent from 2005 to 2023. Over the same period, single-family homes grew by 16.7 percent, matching the overall growth of housing units.
The laggard was “middle” housing, such as duplexes, triplexes, and small apartment buildings, which gained only 11 percent.
Growth in this important category continues to be impeded by local zoning and other regulations, underpinned by opposition from Americans who already have housing. In Queens, opponents of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity claimed the zoning reform, with its promise of granny flats and three- to five-story buildings, would destroy life as they knew it.
A bipartisan Yimby Caucus was formed last week in Congress, but its only co-chair from New York, Marc Molinaro, will be out of office in January. Two other New Yorkers, Democrats Jerry Nadler of Manhattan and Joseph Morelle of Rochester, have now joined.
We will be looking to see if they are followed by Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Democrat who has been active on housing issues such as Basel III, who is eyeing a run for governor and has been sniping at the far left lately.
Molinaro is a Republican, though, so the caucus is likely seeking a GOP member to be a co-chair. Don’t look for that to be Suffolk County’s Nick LaLota, though; Long Island is dominated by single-family zoning and notoriously resistant to development.
What we’re thinking about: Are any property managers or superintendents struggling with the Sanitation Department’s new rules for putting trash and recycling on the curb? Send your thoughts to eengquist@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: The City of Yes for Housing Opportunity was initially called Zoning for Housing Affordability before the Adams administration rebranded it. But the City Council, in announcing the vote that ushered the plan through, went back to the old name and acronym, ZHO, and made no mention of City of Yes or Mayor Eric Adams.
Elsewhere…
The New York Times asked Alicia Glen, who runs MSquared and was deputy mayor for housing under Mayor Bill de Blasio, how to fix the housing crisis.
“The city should be doing a big housing production fund that will provide lower-cost capital to produce housing and should focus less on affordability,” she said. “If you were going to build 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 a year, on top of existing production, you could make a credible argument that just building a lot of housing that’s unregulated would be beneficial to the marketplace and even beneficial to the most vulnerable tenants.”
Production lately has been 20,000 to 29,000 units a year, so Glen is talking about a huge increase — which is not possible for affordable units because they lose money. That point seemed to be lost on the Community Service Society’s Sam Stein, who in the Times story called for borrowing to build affordable and mixed-income projects.
Unregulated units have higher rents, making it possible to build them at scale. How would that help the working class? The people who move into market-rate units free up the homes they leave for lower earners, and avoid bidding up existing homes and displacing people.
***
New York City’s electrical code is being upgraded for the first time since 2011. The City Council last week passed Intro 436, which the mayor will sign into law. The measure updates licensing, permitting, enforcement and penalties, and allows a “qualified person” (not necessarily a licensed electrician) to do low-voltage work. It also sets a June 30, 2026 deadline for an electric vehicle charging report that will help determine when small garages and parking lots will have to install EV charging infrastructure.
Closing time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Monday was $20.5 million for a 6,220-square-foot townhouse at 83 Horatio Street in the West Village. Elana Zinoman and Christopher Riccio of Douglas Elliman had the listing.
Commercial: The largest commercial sale of the day was $255 million for a 178,000-square-foot office building at 799 Broadway in Greenwich Village. The Real Deal reported on the all-cash purchase by Savanna from Columbia Property Trust.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $12.5 million for a co-op unit at 136 East 79th Street on the Upper East Side. Janet Brenner of Compass has the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building application filed was for a 29,629-square-foot residential project at 35-20 149th Street in Flushing. Permits for the 29-unit property were filed by George Jeng of Jeng Architects on behalf of Sungmi Son.
— Matthew Elo