Despite qualifying for 421-a tax break, fewer sites than expected have been sold; no construction, for example, on 700 Atlantic or 840 Atlantic.

Developers struggle to sell 421a sites as construction deadline looms, the Real Deal reported 10/11/22, noting that many developers filed plans with the city's Department of Buildings (DOB) to start construction--just one piling--by June 15, to qualify for the expiring 421-a tax break, which lasts 25 years and has not yet been renewed or revised.

Interestingly, though many developers who qualified may not have been ready to build, they haven't found it easy to find buyers. But interest rates are higher now, and the understaffed DOB moves slowly on revisions. And some of those who gained permits had planned to flip all along.

Moreover, the time horizon is within view, if not yet closing, depending on the site: construction must be completed by June 15, 2026. Smaller projects, of course, are easier.

And in Brooklyn

Though unmentioned in that Real Deal article, among the projects said to be qualified for construction are 700 Atlantic Avenue (B5), the first tower to be built over (and with) the Vanderbilt Yard; though developer Greenland Forest City Partners in May said it was nearly ready to proceed with platform construction, nothing has proceeded.

Others include projects just to the east in the so-called "M-CROWN" zone, where developers have gained spot rezonings of underbuilt sites in an area largely constrained by manufacturing zoning. 

For example, developers of the 840 Atlantic Avenue project have filed to qualify for 421-a, but are locked in a battle with McDonald's, the tenant of the major portion of the site, and no construction has proceeded.