The de Blasio administration is taking aim at developers’ practice of stacking luxury condos atop multistory hollow spaces to achieve greater heights and more lucrative sales.
Marisa Lago, chairwoman of the City Planning Commission, said at a town hall meeting last month that her office is working to change how it treats such large voids, which do not count against a building's density limit. Limiting their size could shrink the height of future towers.
“The notion that there are empty spaces for the sole purpose of making the building taller for the views at the top is not what was intended” by the zoning code, she said. “We are already working under the mayor’s direction with the Department of Buildings to see how we can make sure that the intent of the rules is followed.”
Putting a building on stilts is a common gambit used by developers of very tall luxury condo towers to boost a project’s height yet comply with existing zoning. It works because floors for mechanical equipment are exempt from the limits. By stretching the ceiling of one or more mechanical floors to dizzying heights, developers can essentially create a pedestal upon which to stack the priciest units.
7 comments:
"The de Blasio administration is taking aim at developers"
couldn't even make it past the first line before i laughed. him going after a development practice? if that's true, i'll sell hi a bridge in brooklyn.
I wanna be king of the hill atop my imposing tower. A new form of Freudian penis envy. Mine's taller than yours. LOL!
This is a joke right? De Faustio doing some cheeky comedy like in those videos he made during his re-election campaign?
"The de Blasio administration is taking aim at developers"
couldn't even make it past the first line before i laughed. him going after a development practice? if that's true, i'll sell hi a bridge in brooklyn.
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Don't laugh, if it was a Queens issue you would be correct.
Its in Manhattan where the people have a backbone to speak about this and the politicians have no recourse but follow.
The only reason the entire city is under pressure from development to due to a large part because city council has to drag along the big block of Queens councilmen who are pro-development and do the things they want to do instead of serving the communities they are elected to serve - in large part because their Queens constituents treat them as gods instead as public servants.
This is kind of funny. You could, in theory, make the 2nd floor mechanical room 8 stories tall then have a 10th floor of luxury units and that's it! The building would then pass a 3 story zoning limit?
Up yours is what developers say!
Awww, it's just inside trickery by putting high ceilings on the maintenance floors? I was imagining Jetsons style towers on stilts.
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