Midtown South could get round 9,700 new properties underneath a rezoning plan the Metropolis Planning Fee (CPC) authorised Wednesday.
Underneath the Midtown South Blended-Use Plan, 42 blocks between West twenty third and fortieth Streets and Fifth and Eighth Avenues can be newly designated for housing improvement, permitting the town to repurpose workplace areas. The plan now heads to Metropolis Council for a full vote to take away zoning restrictions on housing.
Mayor Eric Adams, whose administration championed the proposal, mentioned in an announcement that the plan would do away with outdated and cumbersome zoning legal guidelines.
“Midtown South is home to some of our city’s most iconic parks, buildings, and businesses, yet for too long, outdated zoning has stopped it from actually being a home for many New Yorkers,” Adams mentioned. “With today’s vote, we are one step closer to finally building new housing in Midtown and making it a vibrant neighborhood to live, work, and play in.”
The plan would come with as much as 2,900 rent-regulated reasonably priced items by Obligatory Inclusionary Housing, a metropolis program requiring builders to incorporate reasonably priced housing in rezoned areas.
Manhattan Councilmember Keith Powers (D-04), who represents a part of Midtown South, advised New York News that the plan will assist tackle New York Metropolis’s housing disaster.
“The plan will unlock badly needed housing in Manhattan, as well as improvements to the public realm which will be economic drivers in Midtown,” Powers wrote. “MSMX is a step forward in tackling the housing crisis. It’s time we transform Midtown into a place that New Yorkers can afford to live in.”
“I am glad that the CPC has approved the plan, and I encourage my colleagues in the Council to support it when it comes up for a vote,” Powers added.
Officers mentioned the plan would come with density bonuses for builders, permitting them to construct extra items in the event that they assist native enhancements corresponding to transit entry, public areas and even areas for public faculties.
Barbara Blair, president of the non-profit Garment District Alliance, advised New York News that the Midtown plan, also called MSMX, would assist and rework the Garment District, which incorporates a good portion of Midtown South.
“The city needs high density housing, and the Garment District needs a lifeline. The MSMX rezoning is the perfect solution to both problems,” Blair wrote. “Allowing more people to live in the neighborhood will enable the district to develop into a robust, mixed-use community, with residents supporting our restaurants and enlivening our streets.”
Adams first unveiled the plan in August 2023 as a approach to flip idle workplace area into housing. In his 2025 State of the Metropolis tackle, Adams included the rezoning proposal as a part of his purpose of constructing 100,000 new properties within the subsequent decade, which his administration calls the “Manhattan Plan.”
The rezoning plan is the primary time the town is utilizing the Adams administration’s new “City of Yes” land-use initiative, which Metropolis Council authorised final December to permit high-density districts with bigger residential buildings in a bid to reply to the town’s housing disaster. Adams has pursued different rezoning tasks throughout the town, together with in Jamaica and the Bronx, although some conservative lawmakers have tried to cease the tasks.
The CPC’s approval comes after months of group enter, together with conferences, a city corridor and public hearings.
CPC chair Dan Garodnick mentioned in an announcement that top charges of business vacancies impressed the mixed-use plan.
“This plan will bring forth a vibrant mix of commercial, manufacturing, and residential uses, creating a truly dynamic community here,” Garodnick mentioned. “Today’s vote takes us one step closer to the affordable homes, jobs, and infrastructure improvements Midtown South deserves.”
Blair mentioned rezoning Midtown South will carry folks to the neighborhood and have an enduring influence on the group.
“Fostering the development of a mixed-use community will allow the Garment District to take its rightful place as an ideal location to live, work, and visit,” Blair wrote. “Our future depends on it.”
