NEW YORK CITY-After a great deal of controversy, the Midtown East rezoning plan is moving full steam ahead, according to the Real Estate Board of New York's Steve Spinola, president. Spinola will take part in Real Share New York on October 8th; he will speak on the panel during the opening session, entitled Industry Leaders: A View from the Top.
“The prospects for the plan are good,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “There's still some opposition and there are concerns over potential landmarking in the district, but the Department of City Planning will have a final vote this week and we expect [the agency] to adopt it.”
From there, City Council will pick up the ball, and it will have 60 days in which to hold hearings and debate the plan, Spinola says. Still, he remains upbeat about the Midtown East rezoning project's future. “We're optimistic that everyone realizes you can't continue to have an aging office supply and continue to be the most significant office city in the world.”
Unfortunately, once the proposal gets the necessary approvals, it will be some time until the end goal of the rezoning comes to fruition. However, Spinola asserts, it will be well worth the wait.
“Developers will have to decide: 'Is it worth my planning to let leases expire or buy out tenants in order to demolish the older buildings and rebuild?'
We will see people take advantage of the rezoning—which offers higher density—and creating totally green buildings. It's going to be a two decade process—at a minimum—for these buildings to be emptied, knocked down and rebuilt but, in the end, we'll have 4.5 million net square feet of new space. A total of 10 million square feet of space will be torn down, but 15 million square feet will be built.”
Sure, two decades is a long time but, Spinola says, “You have to have the starting bell ring, and this is clearly it.”
The only possible threat to the rezoning is the city's recently aggressive landmarking practice, something REBNY has come out against in the past. “We know that five buildings in the district have been calendared for consideration, but our experts say none of them are worthy of it, they're copies [of other buildings],” according to Spinola. “There are three hotels being reviewed that are in significant disrepair. They're not economical currently and it would be a hardship for the owners to maintain the properties with the restrictions created by landmarking.
“Maybe the Graybar Building, which is being considered for landmarking,” Spinola continues, “has reason for legitimate debate, but the commission isn't even finished, it may identify other potential landmarks.”
Such a designation hampers development, REBNY argues, because of the restrictions on density and other aspects of construction that come with landmarking. Last week, REBNY introduced research that says affordable housing development has been severely hampered by the proliferation of landmarks.
But when all is said and done, the rezoning program will be another feather in the cap of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration, Spinola concludes.
“This follows what I feel is Mayor Bloomberg's major legacy: the planning to make sure New York is ready to deal with all of the issues in upcoming decades. Whether it's through the rezoning, the NY 2030 plan or the response to Hurricane Sandy issues, you have an administration that can be proud of having put forth a blueprint to not just remain competitive but a goal for the proper building to meet our needs.”
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
