New Real Estate Developments in NYC: More Floors, Less Apartments

Abstract

At 15 West 96th Street, a developer is building a 22-story tower with 21 condo units, though zoning would have allowed 66 units at the location, according to a zoning analysis. At 200 East 75th Street, a new 18-story high rise will have 36 luxury apartments though the building could have had as many as 144 units through zoning rules. At 1165 Madison Avenue, a developer could have built 88 units, but a new tower there is 13 stories and has 11 units, including a more than 13,000-square-foot, four-story unit that sold for more than $65 million. "In a city that's desperate for housing, all kinds of housing, how can you allow a builder to build fewer units?" asked Gale Brewer, a city councilwoman for the district that includes the Upper West Side and a former Manhattan borough president. Brit Foster Rothstein's first New York apartment was in a four-story walk-up that was razed and replaced by a 210-foot building with 13 luxury units, including two penthouses that stretch well over 6,000 square feet each. Developers have little incentive to squeeze in so many units on projects in affluent markets, because bigger units command higher premiums, said Ryan Schleis, a senior vice president at Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, a development consultant and marketing firm. Its replacement, a proposed 210-foot tower, nearly triple the height of the current building, is set to have 45 apartments - a net loss of 83 homes - all of which are likely to be multimillion-dollar condo units.