What’s New, SoHo/NoHo?
Part One: The Lay of the Land
Tomorrow (Tuesday November 9, 2021) the SoHo/NoHo Rezoning will face one of the last ULURP* hurdles: a public hearing by the City Council’s Zoning Subcommittee. A lot of New Yorkers have strong opinions about the Rezoning, but before we get into the controversy, it is critical to understand the current zoning regulations, how they came to be, and what exactly would change under the Rezoning.
*(To learn more about ULURP, click here).
Many might be surprised to learn that the SoHo/NoHo neighborhood is actually zoned as a manufacturing zoning district, more specifically, under the M1-5A and M1-5B designations. M1-5A and M1-5B zoning districts are not your typical manufacturing zoning districts in that they allow for limited instances of residential use, joint living-work quarters for artist (JLWQA). On top of that, M1-5A and M1-5B zoning districts exist only in the SoHo/NoHo neighborhood. But what is M1-5A and M1-5B, exactly, and why does it matter?
The Evolution of SoHo/NoHo:
In the 17th century, the neighborhood now widely known as SoHo/NoHo, was predominantly used as farmland, but as early as the late 18th century, portions of the area were developed with manufacturing uses. By the mid-19th century, the neighborhood had become an important manufacturing and commercial district, filled with retail, hotels and entertainment venues. Naturally, the buildings were designed to accommodate such variety of use: the iconic cast-iron loft buildings were constructed with impressively tall ceilings, strong floors and expansive floor plates.
Beginning in the 1860s, the neighborhood began to transform solidly into a manufacturing hub, predominantly used for the production of textiles and garments, but also for the production of metal and wood, and the sale of paper and hardware. Through the end of World War II to the 1970s, the manufacturing uses in SoHo/NoHo began to decrease significantly, and in their place, artist began to populate the neighborhood, transforming the loft buildings into livable work spaces. During that time, however, the neighborhood was zoned as an M1-5 zoning district (per the 1961 Zoning Resolution), which importantly, prohibited new residential use.
M1-5A & M1-5B Zoning Districts:
M1-5A and M1-5B Zoning Districts were established in SoHo in 1971 (and expanded to NoHo in 1976) as a way to address the shift in uses throughout the neighborhood. While light manufacturing uses were still permitted, these zoning districts also created a legal live-work use for artists in the form of JLWQA, subject to certain restrictions imposed by the Zoning Resolution and to the artist certification process run by the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA).
By the 1980s, loft living increased in popularity, and non-artists began to occupy the neighborhood as well. In 1982, the Loft Law (Article 7C of the New York State Multiple Dwellings Law (MDL)) was enacted. It created Interim Multiple Dwellings (IMDs), i.e., temporary legal residential status for commercial and manufacturing buildings, with the goal of achieving permanent legal status through residential conversions, regulated by the newly established New York City Loft Board. However, the Loft Law only applied to buildings with three or more lofts used as residences between April 1980 and December 1981, and required the building owner to agree to place the building under rent stabilization rules. Moreover, the Loft Law only applied to buildings located in areas which already permitted residential use as-of-right. In 1987, the Loft Law was amended to allow IMDs in zoning districts that did not permit residential use as-of-right, expanding the ability of such conversions in the SoHo/NoHo neighborhood.
The City, eventually, granted blanket amnesties allowing some lofts that previously could only be occupied by certified artists to be legally occupied by non-artist residents. This, coupled with the succession of JLWQA units to non-artist family members, sales and leasing of lofts to non-artists, residential conversions and new construction permitted by way of zoning variances and special permits, SoHo/NoHo shifted from a predominantly artist community to a broader residential demographic.
It was already clear in New York during the 1980s that artist, like manufacturers before them, would be displaced. The constant bidding up of property values that replaced artists with richer loft dwellers is related to the process called super-gentrification. In a trickle-up effect, fairly affluent home buyers are outbid by richer ones and are driven downward to compete in less pricey markets. The higher prices push property values up, and the process is repeated when the people whom they outbid look, in turn, further downmarket. (Zukin, 2014)
Importantly, it was not just the residential character of the SoHo/NoHo neighborhood that changed, but the commercial and manufacturing character as well.
First there were galleries and performance spaces, many of them nonprofit, artist-led, cooperative ventures or startups of young gallerists going out on their own. Then individual entrepreneurs opened boutiques selling handcrafted items, design objects, and unusual clothes. These shops were in turn replaced by corporate chain stores, from the very expensive Chanel and Louis Vuitton to mass market Mango and H&M. Today, you would more likely visit SoHo to buy a pair of jeans than to see a work of art. (Zukin, 2014)
Meanwhile, in 1973, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) first created the SoHo Cast—Iron Historic District, which designated most of the SoHo neighborhood as an historic district, which was further extended in 2010. In 1999, the LPC designated the NoHo Historic District, which was further extended in 2008. In 2003, the LPC created the NoHo East Historic District. Today, over 80 percent of the Project Area (illustrated on the maps above and below) is within City-designated historic districts.
The Proposed SoHo/NoHo Rezoning:
The SoHo/NoHo Rezoning, if approved, (as currently drafted), would replace the existing M1-5A and M1-5B zoning districts with a new mixed-use district called the Special SoHo-NoHo Mixed Use (SNX) District. In addition, it would apply the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) program across the SNX District. (To learn more about the MIH program, click here and here).
The SNX District would be comprised of three areas:
Historic Cores (mapped as M1-5/R7X zoning districts)
Residential Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 6.0
Commercial and Manufacturing FAR of 5.0
Community Facility FAR of 6.5
Base Heights between 60-105 feet; Maximum Height of 145 feet
Corridors (mapped as M1-5/R9X zoning districts)
Residential FAR of 9.7
Commercial and Manufacturing FAR of:
6.0 north of Howard Street
5.0 south of Howard Street
Community Facility FAR of 6.5
Base Heights between 85-145 feet; Maximum Height of 205 feet
Opportunity Areas (mapped as M1-6/R10 zoning districts)
Residential FAR of 12.0
Commercial FAR of 10.0 and as modified below:
Commercial FAR in subarea O-2 of the Opportunity Area is reduced to 8.0 FAR
Commercial FAR in subarea O-3 of the Opportunity Area is reduced to 7.0 FAR
Manufacturing FAR of 10.0
Community Facility FAR of 6.5
Base Heights between 125-155 feet; Maximum Height of 275 feet
(For a glossary of zoning terms, click here)
These changes, according to the SoHo/NoHo Rezoning Project Description, would accomplish the following goals:
Allow a wider range of non-residential uses and remove outdated ground floor commercial use restrictions and support a healthy retail ecosystem.
Allow residential use and apply MIH in a manner that recognizes unique conditions in historic districts and addresses practical challenges presented by SoHo and NoHo’s loft building typologies.
Respect the Project Area’s status as an important hub for office, businesses and jobs and strengthen the mixed-use character of the neighborhoods by introducing nonresidential floor area preservation provisions for large commercial and mixed-use buildings.
Establish contextual building envelopes to better reflect the existing character and enhance the historic built environment while also providing design flexibility for new developments.
Support the arts and creative industries that serve the community and the public with use allowances and the establishment of a SoHo/NoHo arts fund.
So you might be asking, what exactly does all of this mean, in practice? Below are three important areas that would change if the SoHo/NoHo Rezoning is adopted:
Residential Use and Affordable Housing:
Residential use will be permitted as-of-right throughout the entire SoHo/NoHo neighborhood. Conversions from commercial to residential, and new residential construction will, generally, be permitted. Further, MIH will be required, in most cases, where new residential floor area is created, pursuant to two options:
25% of the residential floor area must be allocated to affordable housing units for residents with incomes averaging 60% of the Average Median Income (AMI), with 10% of residential floor area allocated to residents with incomes averaging 40% of AMI; or
30% of the residential floor area must be allocated to affordable housing units for residents with incomes averaging 80% of AMI.
Importantly, the MIH requirement would apply to any zoning lot that permits 12,500 square feet of residential floor area, regardless of how much residential floor area is actually developed. (Yes, you read that correctly, it does not matter whether the floor area is actually built, the MIH requirement is triggered where there is residential capacity).
That said, there will be an option to obtain a special permit from the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA), to permit a financial contribution to an affordable housing fund in lieu of providing on-site affordable housing for physically constrained sites (e.g., deep and narrow buildings on interior lots). However, the City Planning Commission (CPC) modified the special permit option to require the involvement of the New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation Development (HPD) “so that all applications result in the outcome – on-site units or the fee – that best support the goals of MIH.”
Commercial and Manufacturing Uses:
Each residential zoning district is paired with a light manufacturing zoning district to allow for mixed uses. This means that a wide range of retail will be permitted, from small boutiques to department stores (without a limitation on floor area). Moreover, the SoHo/NoHo Rezoning seeks to preserve existing job-generating floor area (i.e., office, commercial and manufacturing uses) in buildings that are 60,000 square feet or larger, and have at least 20% of their total floor area allocated to non-residential use. The redevelopment, enlargement, and conversion of such buildings will only be permitted subject to a CPC Chair certification.
Notably, the CPC modified the zoning text in two important ways. First, the CPC included a new CPC Chairperson certification requirement that mandates additional review for stores over 25,000 square feet when interior loading berths are not provided. Specifically, the certification will require a loading plan to be developed in consultation with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to mitigate impacts of on-street loading locations and merchandise delivery operations on residents, pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles. Second, the CPC has decreased the commercial FAR in Subarea O-2 of the Opportunity Area from 10.0 FAR to 8.0 FAR, and in Subarea O-3 of the Opportunity Area from 10.0 FAR to 7.0 FAR.
Artists and Home Occupations:
JLWQA will be allowed to continue to exist as a legal non-conforming use, with the option to convert the JLWQA to Use Group 2 residential use coupled with a required contribution to an Arts Fund to be administered by DLCA. The SoHo/NoHo Rezoning would also provide for expanded home occupation provisions, and allow individuals to occupy a dwelling unit as an accessory use. For instance, up to 49% of the floor area of a dwelling unit could be used for workspace, and a resident would be allowed to employ up to three non-residents. Further, in response to the ways COVID-19 has changed many industries, and given flexible work-from-home policies, the definition of home occupation would be expanded to include most commercial and manufacturing uses, including professional offices.
Finally, since a majority of the Project Area exists within historic districts, any proposed development projects in the historic districts are subject to LPC review, including any alterations, reconstructions, demolitions or new construction of buildings.
The Next Steps in the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP):
On October 20, 2021, the CPC unanimously approved the SoHo/NoHo Rezoning (with modifications described above). Next up, the SoHo/NoHo Rezoning will face the City Council, which will review the proposal, hold a public hearing, and vote on whether it should be approved. Tomorrow, on Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at 10:00am the City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises will be holding a public hearing. You can watch the hearing here.
Part Two of this series will break down the debate over, and provide status updates on, the SoHo/NoHo Rezoning. Stay tuned!
Sources:
The New York City Zoning Resolution, Section 41-00 et seq.
Zukin, S. (2014). Loft living: Culture and capital in urban change. Rutgers University Press.
Soho/NoHo Neighborhood Plan. SoHo/NoHo Neighborhood Plan: Overview - DCP. https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/plans/soho-noho/soho-noho-overview.page.
New York City Department of City Planning. SoHo-NoHo, Project ID No. 2018M0375, Submitted May 14, 2021. NYC Planning - Zoning Application Search. https://zap.planning.nyc.gov/projects/2018M0375.
Soho/NoHo Rezoning Application Certified by the City Planning Commission. Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP. (May 17, 2021). https://www.stroock.com/news-and-insights/sohonoho-rezoning-application-certified-by-the-city-planning-commission.
Update: Hotel special permit and SoHo/NoHo rezoning are approved by CPC. Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP. (October 20, 2021). https://www.stroock.com/news-and-insights/update-hotel-special-permit-and-soho-noho-rezoning-are-approved-by-cpc.
Brenzel, K. (September 30, 2021). City Planning Tweaks Soho and Noho Rezoning Plan. The Real Deal New York. https://therealdeal.com/2021/09/30/city-tweaks-soho-rezoning-proposal-but-critics-remain-unimpressed/.
