NYC’s Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan: A Rezoning Model for US Housing
Fried Frank's Zachary Bernstein, Wesley O’Brien and Timothy Gentles on boosting supply through the transformation of former manufacturing districts.
The Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan is one of the latest in a series of New York City-sponsored rezoning initiatives to create a Special Mixed Use District in a manufacturing area where the creation of new housing has been generally prohibited. MX districts pair manufacturing districts with residential districts to create vibrant live-work communities. They encourage the creation of critically needed housing alongside compatible commercial and light manufacturing activities.
Mixed-use rezonings like MSMX reflect a broader trend toward urban core densification and respond to shifting economic conditions away from industrial and manufacturing uses across the United States.
MSMX seeks to rezone approximately 42 blocks of Midtown South that are currently zoned as manufacturing districts, which generally prohibit new residential uses. These restrictions result from a series of actions taken by the city in the 1980s to preserve the garment manufacturing uses for which the neighborhood had historically been known. Since then, mirroring national trends, apparel manufacturing uses in the Midtown South area have declined precipitously and been largely replaced by office uses. However, changing post-pandemic market conditions, as well as the age and condition of the building stock, has resulted in growing commercial vacancies.
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In proposing MSMX, the city has recognized that given Midtown South’s central, transit-rich location, restrictive manufacturing zoning is misaligned with market demand that is capable of supporting dense residential development and a diverse range of commercial uses. MSMX would map an MX district over the rezoning area and replace the existing manufacturing districts with high-density residential districts paired with recently created M1-A districts. These districts allow for higher densities and expand the range of nonresidential uses permitted in manufacturing districts to include retail, service, entertainment and community facility uses. Additionally, the MSMX proposal includes urban design controls to improve the public realm, and floor area bonuses for developments that provide covered pedestrian spaces or mass transit improvements.
The MSMX initiative is consistent with other recent city actions aimed at increasing the flexibility of manufacturing districts and encouraging the co-location of residences with light industrial and other uses. The M1-A districts are a product of the city’s recent City of Yes for Economic Opportunity initiative, which provided sweeping changes to manufacturing and commercial district regulations. In addition to creating a new type of manufacturing district, COYEO provided additional flexibility for certain “clean” production activities, such as 3D printing, woodworking shops and small-scale food and beverage manufacturing, to locate in commercial zoning districts, subject to environmental controls.
Following a rezoning blueprint
Additionally, COYEO greatly expanded the ability to locate commercial uses above or alongside residential uses, provided that there is no internal access between these uses and that they comply with physical separation and noise attenuation standards. These initiatives were accompanied by a comprehensive reorganization and updating of commercial use groups to reflect 21st century economic activities.
MSMX also builds on other recent city initiatives to create new MX districts, such as the Gowanus and SoHo/NoHo Neighborhood Plans. Both of these rezonings similarly sought to encourage new housing growth in neighborhoods with good access to transit and a vibrant mix of commercial uses, but where zoning was significantly constraining further residential development. In the Special Gowanus Mixed Use District, height and floor area bonuses are available to incentivize the inclusion of certain light industrial, artistic, cultural and community uses in new mixed-use developments, in order to ensure a thriving live-work neighborhood.
In the Special Gowanus Mixed Use District, as in all MX districts citywide, certain environmental controls exist to ensure the compatibility of residential with light industrial uses. These include a requirement that any commercial or manufacturing use located in the same building as residences comply with certain city emissions standards and a prohibition on the storage or use of potentially hazardous substances. Additionally, for certain production uses, emissions stacks must be installed to vent above the height of the highest roof tier, or above neighboring buildings, to prevent localized air quality impacts.
MSMX and New York City’s other recent mixed-use zoning initiatives offer a model for other cities experiencing similar challenges, including a shortage of housing adjacent to central business districts, aging commercial building stock, declining demand for traditional manufacturing space and underutilized former industrial corridors. Co-locating housing in former manufacturing areas is not only a solution to the dire housing shortage facing many U.S. cities but also provides a way of enlivening the urban core, encouraging small business growth, and creating desirable mixed-use neighborhoods.
Zachary Bernstein and Wesley O’Brien are partners in Fried Frank’s land use, zoning and development department, and Timothy Gentles is a law clerk in the firm’s real estate department.
