City aims to close zoning loophole that boosts building heights
The days of developers using mechanical voids to boost their buildingsā heights may soon be coming to an end. The Department of City Planning has proposed anĀ amendmentĀ to New Yorkās zoning code that would make those voidsāostensibly used to store mechanical equipment, but often occupying space thatās much larger than necessaryācount toward a buildingās overall allowable size.
Under the current zoning code, there isnāt much in the way of restrictions on mechanical voids; theyāre excluded from a buildingās floor-area ratio (which determines how much space a building can occupy within its footprint), and there are no height limits for those spaces.
DCP has proposed making those voids count toward a residential buildingās total FAR when theyāre taller than 25 feet high, or when those floors are located within 75 feet of one another. While the rule is intended to apply to residential buildings, there are some cases in mixed-use buildingsāif the non-residential section is less than a quarter of the structureās usable space, for instanceāwhere it may apply. Mechanical bulkheads on the top of buildings would be exempt, detailed Kiyoshi Yamazakia, a city planner with DCP, at Mondayās City Planning Commission (CPC) meeting.
āWe believe that for a building to function efficiently the mechanical space needs to be distributed evenly so that you donāt need to have piping that goes 20, 30 stories up in the air,ā said Yamazaki.
The goal, according to DCPās amendment application, is to ādiscourage the use of excessive mechanical floors to artificially increase building height by limiting the height and frequency of such spaces incorporated into a buildingās design.ā

Courtesy of the Department of City Planning
Although this practice has beenĀ commonly usedĀ by developers in recent yearsā220 Central Park South, for instance, has several mechanical floors that range from 18 to 24 feet in heightāit wasnāt until last year, when a proposal for a Rafael ViƱoly-designed ābuilding on stiltsā on East 62nd Street, promptedĀ backlashĀ from neighborhood groups. The proposed design included 150 feet of mechanical void stuck in the middle of the tower, and spurred the de Blasio administrationās interest in curbing how those spaces are used.
But earlier this month, DOB told Extell that it wouldĀ revoke its building permitsĀ unless the developer could give a reason why the void is necessary. Extell chief Gary Barnett toldĀ the New York TimesĀ that if the project canāt move forward, the firm may bring a lawsuit against the city since it is attempting to apply restrictions that do not currently exist.
City Planning Commissioner Anna Hayes Levin praised the city for taking action to curb the misused spaces.
āIām pleased to see this rule moving forward I know its been a topic on many peopleās mind for some time,ā Levin said during Mondayās CPC hearing.
āThere just seems to be something odd about a manipulation of the zoning resolution in a way that allows people to monetize the sky, which really belongs to all of us.ā
Source: ny.curbed.com
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