Cuomo proposal: offices in Manhattan and hotels in the city (including Brooklyn) could become housing, with some affordability

State proposes zoning override for commercial-to-resi conversions, the Real Deal reported 1/20/21:

For the next five years, certain New York City building owners may be able to get around some local zoning rules to convert properties to residential use.

One of the bills in the state’s proposed 2022 budget elaborates on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to incentivize the conversion of commercial buildings into affordable housing. The measure applies to hotels with fewer than 150 rooms and other forms of temporary lodging, as well as class B and C office buildings in Midtown.

That would allow looser zoning, with less light and air required per unit. And it would mean that hotels, though not offices, in and around Downtown Brooklyn, might be converted.

There is a requirement for either 20% affordable units, or supportive housing, or possibly contributing to a housing fund. So that's clearly up for negotiation. (And the definition of "affordable" is unclear.)

From the Real Deal:

The budget doesn’t appear to include any additional subsidies to incentivize conversions. For that and other reasons, the affordability requirement may not sit well with developers, who are eyeing the looming expiration of Affordable New York in 2022. That state tax break, formerly known as 421a, is provided to developers in exchange for setting aside 25 to 30 percent of units as affordable.

Stay tuned for that.

Today's Real Deal, in Five key real estate proposals in Cuomo’s budget, also cites "fear in the real estate industry is that layering on another millionaires’ tax would cause some high earners to flee or avoid New York, hurting the luxury market."

There's not much luxury market left in Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, but there several very expensive condos at 550 Vanderbilt, the only building with for-sale units so far, that have yet to sell.