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„ The new zoning was approved later that year, changing the parcel’s allowed use from commercial to residential and increasing the floor-area ratio to allow 87,000 square feet of apartments.
That paves the way for Trammell Crowe to build 27 stories and 100 to 115 rental units. The firm, which declined to comment, apparently believes the new building would fetch high enough rents to pencil out under the state’s new 485x regime.
The property tax break at the 6,300-square-foot Soho site would run for 35 years but require a minimum construction wage of $40 an hour if the project has at least 100 units, or $72.45 an hour for 150 units or more. That provision has resulted in a slew of filings for projects of 99 units or smaller.“
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https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/trammell-crow-plans-soho-project-lafayette-street
The developer of a project planned for SoHo may be willing to pay the $40-per-hour minimum wage requirement tied to a new affordable housing tax break.
Dallas-based real estate firm Trammell Crow recently filed plans with the Department of Buildings for a 104-unit residential project at 130 Lafayette St. in the trendy Manhattan neighborhood. The building would stand 25 stories and 275 feet tall, and it would span about 104,000 square feet with retail space on the ground floor.
Although it was unclear if Trammell Crow intends to build the project under the state’s 485-x affordable housing tax break, the filing does say it will include low-income housing, indicating it is at least a possibility. This makes the number of residential units particularly notable, as the tax break requires projects with 100 or more units to pay a minimum wage of $40 per hour.
Developers have seemingly responded to this rule by planning projects with slightly less than 100 units. Developer Ami Weinstock recently filed plans for six new buildings in Jamaica, Queens with no more than 99 units apiece, for instance, while a report from the Real Estate Board of New York found a large increase in buildings with 50 to 99 units during the first quarter of the year. But Trammell Crow may have decided the income it would get from the extra SoHo units is worth paying the higher wage.
A representative for Trammell Crow would not confirm whether the company intends to build its SoHo project using 485-x and indicated that many aspects of the project were still up in the air.
“We are working closely with the city and key stakeholders to finalize our development plans so that the project best aligns with community needs and market demand,” Senior Vice President Michael Adamo said in a statement. “We look forward to sharing updates as the plans progress and will provide further details once there is more to announce.”
Trammell Crow acquired the property, located between Canal and Howard streets in the area of SoHo that the city rezoned in late 2021, through its subsidiary High Street Residential. The firm paid about $14.7 million in June for the 99-year ground lease at the vacant development site, property records show.
The state passed 485-x as a replacement for the controversial affordable housing tax break 421-a in last year’s budget deal. Although developers had long stressed the need for a 421-a replacement, many have been unhappy with 485-x, namely its strict wage and affordability requirements. Developers of 118 buildings with roughly 2,600 housing units overall had signed up to use the program as of May 1, although all of these projects included less than 100 units, according to data from the city.
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