Two Rezoning Plans Aim to Increase NYC Affordable Housing and Spur Job Growth
The continued push to increase the availability of affordable housing in New York City has given rise to proposed rezoning projects in Queens and Brooklyn that are in different phases of the city’s approximately seven month long Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). If both deliver as proposed, a combined total of 16,600 new homes will be constructed, of which 5,400 units will be permanently affordable, as well as a commitment to infrastructure and public realm improvements. Recently the New York City Planning Commission (DCP) approved the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan (AAMUP) which will rezone a 21-block stretch along Atlantic Avenue, including parts of Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant. Current zoning rules along Atlantic Avenue, one of Brooklyn’s most important east-west corridors, have remained mostly unchanged since 1961 and prevent new housing and limit job creation. Enabling mixed-use development would open the door to the creation of 4,600 new homes, with 1,440 units designated as permanently affordable housing, and an estimated 2,800 permanent jobs. The second initiative that recently launched ULURP is dubbed the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan and covers a 230-block area. The plan aims to deliver over 12,000 new homes within the Queens neighborhood, of which 4,000 units will be designated as permanent affordable housing, plus over 2 million square feet of commercial and community space projected to create approximately 7,000 new jobs. The proposed rezoning would open the door to high-density mixed-use development in the downtown core and along major transit corridors, as well as allow residential use in areas where it has traditionally been restricted. In addition, new manufacturing zones would be created to promote job growth while supporting industrial businesses.